Assessment of Health Literacy and Health Promoting Behaviors among the Urban Adult Population

Abstract

Background: The main criteria of health determinants are Health Promoting Behaviors (HPBs) and Health Literacy (HL). This study aimed to assess  HL and HPBs among the urban population of adults.

Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study with 379 adults in Iran. The inclusion criteria was that participants were randomly  selected from health centers using health records. Data were collected by demographic information questionnaire, Health Literacy for Iranian Adults  (HELIA) and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP-II). Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and Pearson’s r correlation  coefficient were used to analyze the data. Also, the hierarchical regression analysis was used to adjust for confounders.

Results: There was a significant association between HL and demographic factors, including age, gender and education level. HL dimensions were  significantly correlated with HPBs of adults (p <0.05). Decision-making was the strongest HL dimension to predictive HPBs (β=0.606). In this study,  49.7% of the variation in HPBs is predicted by the HL, and the demographic characteristics.

Conclusions: It can be advantageous to design  programs to promote HL and HPBs in adults, focusing on the aging group, gender, and education level.