Correlation of Health Literacy with posttraumatic growth of patients with cancer- A cross-sectional study in Tehran.

Introduction: Post-Traumatic Growth refers to personal and psychological changes that have been made after a severe incident and the result of a person's struggle against the incident is stressful. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between post-traumatic post-traumatic incidence and health literacy in in-patient patients in educational hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this analytical-cross-sectional study, 384 patients with cancer were selected in hospitals affiliated to Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected by Health Literacy and Post-Traumatic Growth questionnaires. Their validity and reliability were confirmed. Data analysis were used by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Pearson correlation and ANOVA in SPSS 22 software. Results: According to findings, the lowest and the most average of Post-Traumatic Growth scores were related to dimensions of new possibilities (2.04) and spiritual changes (3.84). Also, the lowest and highest mean of Health Literacy scores were in reading area (2.99) and comprehension domain (4.06) respectively. The average total score of Post-Traumatic Growth and Health Literacy was 3.1 and 3.68, respectively. There was a significant and positive correlation between Post-Traumatic Growth and Health Literacy in patients with cancer. Conclusions: Due to the link between Post-Traumatic Growth and Health Literacy, it is necessary to provide quantitative and qualitative counseling programs and improve the quality of health care and improve patient-provider communication, to provide good conditions for patients to better understand and adapt to their circumstances.