JMIR Publications

ABSTRACT

Background:

Health literacy (HL) refers to the people’s ability to find, understand and use health information in order to make appropriate health decisions. Health literacy of students is important so that tomorrow’s health professionals deliver high quality healthcare and enhance patient education and communication.

Objective:

In this context the aim of this study was to assess the HL level of Faculty of Medical Technical Sciences (FMTS) students in order to shed light on this under-researched topic in the Albanian settings.

Methods:

A cross-sectional study involving 193 FMTS students of various study branches (nursing, midwifery, physiotherapy and laboratory technician) was carried out during 22-29 June 2022, in the premises of the FMTS Faculty, in Tirana, Albania. The international HL-EU-Q standardized questionnaire, validated in Albanian language, was used to collect information about FMTS students’ general HL through a face-to-face interview. Basic socio-demographic information was collected as well. Binary logistic regression was used to assess the factors associated with inadequate/problematic (limited) HL.

Results:

The mean level of general HL was 37.2 (on a scale form 0 - minimum HL to 50 – maximal HL). About one quarter of FMTS students had inadequate (4.7%) or problematic (19.7%) HL, 51.3% had sufficient HL and 24.4% had excellent HL. The prevalence of limited HL (inadequate + problematic HL) was higher among male than female students (50% vs. 22.6%, respectively), and those with lower social and economic status. Upon adjusting for confounding effects, the only factor significantly increasing the likelihood of limited health literacy was male gender (OR=8.13, 95%CI:1.68-39.39). Findings suggested that low social and economic status also increase the likelihood of limited HL, but such associations did not reach statistical significance.

Conclusions:

To our knowledge, this is the first study exploring the level of HL and its associated factors among FMTS students in Albania. The prevalence of limited HL was relatively high among FMTS students. There is need for target interventions to increase the HL of nursing students, such as the inclusion of HL subject in nursing curriculum.