Journal Article

Understanding health literacy in men: a cross-sectional survey

McErlean, Gemma, Mursa, Ruth, Halcomb, Elizabeth, Patterson, Christopher

2024

Overview

Background Males have a shorter life expectancy than females. Men are less likely to seek the advice of a health professional or utilise preventive health services and programs. This study seeks to explore health literacy and the characteristics affecting this among Australian men. Methods Four hundred and thirty-one adult males engaged with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, completed an online cross-sectional survey, undertaken from September – November 2022. The survey tool captured demographic data, health status and lifestyle risk characteristics. Health literacy was measured using the 44-item Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Descriptive statistics, frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviations, were used to describe the sample. Interferential statistics, including the Mann-Whitney U Test and the Kruskal-Wallis Test, were used to explore differences between demographics and HLQ scales. Results For the first 5 scales (4-point Likert scale), the lowest score was seen for ‘ Appraisal of health information ’ (Mean 2.81; SD 0.52) and the highest score was seen for ‘ Feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers ’ ( Mean 3.08; SD 0.64). For the other 4 scales (5-point Likert scale), the lowest score was seen for ‘Navigating the healthcare system’ (Mean 3.74; SD 0.69). The highest score was seen for ‘Understand health information well enough to know what to do’ (Mean 4.10; SD 0.53). Age, income level and living in an urban/rural location were significantly related to health literacy scales. Conclusions This study provides new insight into men’s health literacy and the factors impacting it. This knowledge can inform future strategies to promote men’s engagement with health services and preventive care.

• Publisher: BioMed Central,BioMed Central Ltd,Springer Nature B.V,BMC
• Subject: Adolescent / Adult / Aged / Analysis / Behavior / Biostatistics / Care and treatment / Chronic diseases / Chronic illnesses / Cross-Sectional Studies / Demographics / Demography / Diagnosis / Disease prevention / Empowerment / Environmental Health / Epidemiology / Exercise / Flood damage / Gender differences / Health aspects / Health care / Health care industry / Health care policy / Health education / Health information / Health literacy / Health Literacy - statistics & numerical data / Health literacy questionnaire / Health services / Health status / Help seeking behavior / HLQ / Humans / Life expectancy / Life span / Lifestyles / Likert scale / Literacy / Male / Males / Mean / Medical personnel / Medicine / Medicine & Public Health / Medicine, Preventive / Men / Methods / Middle Aged / New South Wales / Nurses / Overweight / Polls & surveys / Prevention programs / Preventive health services / Preventive medicine / Public Health / Public health literacy / Risk factors / Rural areas / Rural Population - statistics & numerical data / Rural urban differences / Social networks / Statistical tests / Statistics / Surveys / Surveys and Questionnaires / Vaccine / Young Adult