Health literacy and its influencing factors among university students

Objective To realize the status of the health literacy and its influencing factors among university students,and to provide reference for improvement of the level of health literacy.Methods Based on the questionnaire of Chinese citizens' health literacy in 2008,a questionnaire of university students' health literacy was designed,covering 850 university students drawn from 10 universities in 5 areas(Nanjing,Chengdu,Guangzhou,Beijing and Xi'an).Results 15.3% university students had health literacy;the rates of students who had met the health literacy criteria on basic health knowledge and concepts,health lifestyles and behaviors,and health basic skills were 41.9%,10.0% and 55.9% respectively;the rates of safety and emergency,basic medical care,prevention and cure of infectious diseases,scientific view of health and prevention and cure of chronic diseases were 60.2%,48.4%,24.1%,20.9% and 1.6% respectively.Multivariate Logistic regression analysis represented that university students who are in the medical profession(OR=5.016),care of health knowledge (OR=1.945) and access to health knowledge easier (OR=2.547)had higher level of health literacy(P<0.05).Conclusion The level of university students' total health literacy is still low,especially in health lifestyles and behaviors as well as prevention and cure of chronic diseases.Thus,the universities' educators should develop various and diverse health literacy education to improve their health literacy levels.