بررسی سواد سلامت زنان باردار زیر پوشش مراکز بهداشتی درمانی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شهید بهشتی

 Background and Objective: Health literacy is “The degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions”, that is an important element in woman’s ability to engage in health promotion and prevention activities both for herself and her children. The purpose of this study was to investigate the health literacy level of pregnant women in urban health centers of Shahid Beheshti Medical University.    Materials and Methods: In a cross-sectional study (a descriptive-analytical one), 240 pregnant women who received prenatal care from health centers were investigated using the test of Functional Health Literacy for adults.    Results: The mean age of the sample was 27.7 years (SD=5.1) and the mean age of education was 10.6 years (SD=3.3 range: 1-22). In addition, 30% of participants had low, 24.6% had marginal and 45.4% had adequate health literacy. Health literacy was significantly different by the location of the health centers (x2=24.47, df=6, p<0.001), age (x2=21.86, df=8, p<0.005), and education (x2=90.16, df=8, p<0.001). Based on the multiple regression, health literacy was significantly associated with level of education (t=9.41, p<0.001), age (t=2.56, p<0.011), and employment (t=2.01, p<0.045).   Conclusion: This study showed that limited functional health literacy is a widespread problem in pregnant women. Low health literacy may impair a patient’s understanding of health messages and advices, so health providers should use effective educational methods for people who have limited reading and writing abilities.