The Relationship between Different Levels of Health Literacy and Smoking Prevention Among Medical Sciences Student

Rahman Panahi; Fereshteh Osmani; Keyhan Javanmardi; Ali Ramezankhani; Leila Dehghankar; Roohola Amini; Ali Asghar Haeri Mehrizi; Mohiadin Amjadian; Mohamad Anbari; Nooshin Hosseini

doi:10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_460_20

The Relationship between Different Levels of Health Literacy and Smoking Prevention Among Medical Sciences Student

Int J Prev Med. 2021 Sep 29:12:124. doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_460_20. eCollection 2021.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Ph.D. in Health Education and Promotion, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
² Infectious Disease Research Center, Birjand University of Medical Sciences, Birjand, Iran.
³ Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, Kordistan University, Sanandaj, Iran.
⁴ Department of Health Services, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
⁵ Lecture of Nursing, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Iran.
⁶ Department of Occupational Health, School of Medical Sciences, Isfahan University of Medical Science, Isfahan, Iran.
⁷ Health Metrics Research Center, Iranian Institute for Health Sciences Research, ACECR, Tehran, Iran.
⁸ Department of Clinical Psychology, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran.
⁹ Department of Occupational Health, School of Public Health and Institute of Public Health Research, Tehran University of Medical Science, Tehran, Iran.
¹⁰ Department of Health Education, School of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz University of Medical Science, Ahvaz, Iran.

Abstract

Background: Higher rates of Smoking among university students have been reported in various studies. On the other hand, health literacy (HL) can improve health behaviors. In fact, identifying factors affecting the adoption of smoking preventive behaviors such as HL can help prevent and reduce the prevalence of smoking among people. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between different levels of HL and adoption of smoking preventive behaviors among university student in 2016.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional descriptive study. Three hundred and forty-seven dormitory students of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences in Iran were selected through single-stage cluster sampling for the study. Data were collected using a measure of HL (the HL inventory for adults-HELIA) and a designed questionnaire to assess the adoption of smoking preventive behaviors. The data were analyzed using SPSS software version. 16 and descriptive statistical and Logistic regression test.

Results: The mean (SD) of the score for adoption of smoking preventive behaviors and HL were 45.91 (12.99) and 70.52 (14.12) out of 100, respectively. The results showed that the adoption of smoking preventive behaviors had significant relationship with variables such as HL, gender, father's education and not smoking (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: Less adoption of smoking preventive behaviors was seen in students with lower levels of HL, female students, students with illiterate fathers and smokers. Therefore, it seems essential to take these factors into consideration in designing preventive programs for smoking in target groups.

Keywords: Behavior; health literacy; smoking; students.