Sarah Naja1, Rowaida Elyamani2, Abdullah Al Ibrahim3, Noora Al Kubaisi4, Rayan Itani3, Palli AbdulRouf3. 1. Department of Community Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box 3050, Doha, Qatar. snaja1@hamad.qa. 2. Department of Community Medicine, Hamad Medical Corporation, P.O. Box 3050, Doha, Qatar. 3. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Hamad Medical Corporation, Doha, Qatar. 4. Primary Health Care Corporation, Doha, Qatar.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: Health literacy is a vital strategy to consider when designing health-promoting programs, and health literacy is a priority in Qatar's national health agenda. In the context of pregnancy, inadequate health literacy has been linked to several adverse outcomes among pregnant women such as unplanned conception, smoking, and lack of multi-vitamin intake. Given the paucity of data, this study aimed to assess the level of health literacy and its determinants among pregnant women in the State of Qatar. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional design was utilized. First, we piloted the measurement tools on 10% of the calculated sample size. Accordingly, the items of the measurement tools were revised. Next, we utilized a structured questionnaire to interview the participants about their socio-demographic characteristics, pregnancy-related factors, and the Newest Vital Sign Tool. A chi-square test was employed to investigate the association level among variables, with significance set to P < 0.05. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with a low literacy level. RESULTS: We found that almost four in 10 pregnant women (n = 138,45.4%) had inadequate health literacy. Furthermore, the insufficient level of health literacy was significantly associated with low educational background, decreased household income, and primigravida. However, uncontrolled glycaemia was the only significant predictor of inadequate health literacy through logistic regression. The scale was found to be reliable, with a calculated Cronbach's alpha of 0.8. CONCLUSIONS: Low health literacy is common among pregnant women in the State of Qatar. Thus, public health officials should focus on delivering tailored health literacy interventions to pregnant women in the country.
BACKGROUND: Health literacy is a vital strategy to consider when designing health-promoting programs, and health literacy is a priority in Qatar's national health agenda. In the context of pregnancy, inadequate health literacy has been linked to several adverse outcomes among pregnant women such as unplanned conception, smoking, and lack of multi-vitamin intake. Given the paucity of data, this study aimed to assess the level of health literacy and its determinants among pregnant women in the State of Qatar. METHODS: An analytical cross-sectional design was utilized. First, we piloted the measurement tools on 10% of the calculated sample size. Accordingly, the items of the measurement tools were revised. Next, we utilized a structured questionnaire to interview the participants about their socio-demographic characteristics, pregnancy-related factors, and the Newest Vital Sign Tool. A chi-square test was employed to investigate the association level among variables, with significance set to P < 0.05. A logistic regression model was used to identify the factors associated with a low literacy level. RESULTS: We found that almost four in 10 pregnant women (n = 138,45.4%) had inadequate health literacy. Furthermore, the insufficient level of health literacy was significantly associated with low educational background, decreased household income, and primigravida. However, uncontrolled glycaemia was the only significant predictor of inadequate health literacy through logistic regression. The scale was found to be reliable, with a calculated Cronbach's alpha of 0.8. CONCLUSIONS: Low health literacy is common among pregnant women in the State of Qatar. Thus, public health officials should focus on delivering tailored health literacy interventions to pregnant women in the country.
Entities:
Keywords:
Health literacy; Health promotion; Uncontrolled glycaemic level
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