Abstract
Background Health literacy includes cognitive and social skills which help patients to access, understand and use medical information in ways that promote and maintain good health. Recently health literacy emerged as an important topic for public health and health policy makers.
Objectives This study was designed to evaluate health literacy level among patients of primary care centers in Prishtina and its association with socioeconomic status, education level, hospitalization rates, self-perception on health and frequency of visits to the doctor.
Methods Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults was used to collect the data. S-TOFHLA administration criteria were strictly followed. 557 questionnaires were collected, filled by patients around Prishtina visiting primary healthcare centers, and further analyzed with SPSS.
Participants Every third patient, older than 15 years old, who entered doctor’s office, was asked to fulfill the test totaling 557 patients.
Results From 557 surveyed patients, according to S-TOFHLA scoring criteria, 79 % of patients are considered as health literate, 9 % have moderate knowledge and 12 % are health illiterate. Results revealed statistically significant differences in test performance between patients with different levels of education (p < .01), between males and females (p = .033), or between patients with different hospitalization rates (p < .05).
Conclusions From results obtained, we can conclude there is an association between health literacy level and variables like gender, socioeconomic status, education level and hospitalization rates.
