Association of health literacy and unintentional injurious among Chinese middle school students in six cities

Objective The purpose of this study was to examine associations between health literacy (HL) and unintentional injuries in junior and high school students in China.Methods A total of 22 628 junior and high school students in China were enrolled in this study from November 2015 to January 2016.Questionnaires survey was conducted to collect information on demographics,HL and unintentional injuries.Rates on HL and unintentional injuries were compared in adolescents with specific characteristics.Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine relations between them.Results The score of CAIHLQ was (104.06± 18.68).Students who were high school students,rural residence,non-only child in family,resident student,lower parental education level and lower family income had significantly lower HL scores than the corresponding other students.The prevalence of unintentional injuries was 46.7%.Boys reported more injuries problems than girls.The incidences of unintentional injuries among students in junior school,from rural area,being non-only child in family,with lower parental education level was significantly higher prevalence of injuries than their peers.Students with unintentional injuries had lower scores of total HL,health awareness,self-actualization,stress management and interpersonal relationship than non-unintentional injuries,while had higher the scores of physical activities and dietary behavior.Data from multiple Logistic regression analyses showed that moderate or low level of health literacy increased the risk of unintentional injuries(OR=1.323,95%CI=1.223-1.432;OR=1.410,95%CI=1.319-1.507;P<0.01).Conclusion Lower HL may increase the risk of unintentional injuries among middle school students.Health literacy improvement may reduce the incidence of unintentional injuries among middle school students.