Does health literacy mediate the relationship between socioeconomic status and health related outcomes in the Belgian adult population?
BMC Public Health
; 24(1): 1182, 2024 Apr 27.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38678179
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Health literacy (HL) has been put forward as a potential mediator through which socioeconomic status (SES) affects health. This study explores whether HL mediates the relation between SES and a selection of health or health-related outcomes.METHODS:
Data from the participants of the Belgian health interview survey 2018 aged 18 years or older were individually linked with data from the Belgian compulsory health insurance (n = 8080). HL was assessed with the HLS-EU-Q6. Mediation analyses were performed with health behaviour (physical activity, diet, alcohol and tobacco consumption), health status (perceived health status, mental health status), use of medicine (purchase of antibiotics), and use of preventive care (preventive dental care, influenza vaccination, breast cancer screening) as dependent outcome variables, educational attainment and income as independent variables of interest, age and sex as potential confounders and HL as mediating variable.RESULTS:
The study showed that unhealthy behaviours (except alcohol consumption), poorer health status, higher use of medicine and lower use of preventive care (except flu vaccination) were associated with low SES (i.e., low education and low income) and with insufficient HL. HL partially mediated the relationship between education and health behaviour, perceived health status and mental health status, accounting for 3.8-16.0% of the total effect. HL also constituted a pathway by which income influences health behaviour, perceived health status, mental health status and preventive dental care, with the mediation effects accounting for 2.1-10.8% of the total effect.CONCLUSIONS:
Although the influence of HL in the pathway is limited, our findings suggest that strategies for improving various health-related outcomes among low SES groups should include initiatives to enhance HL in these population groups. Further research is needed to confirm our results and to better explore the mediating effects of HL.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Temas:
ECOS
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Aspectos_gerais
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Classe Social
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Comportamentos Relacionados com a Saúde
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Nível de Saúde
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Letramento em Saúde
Limite:
Adolescent
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Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
País/Região como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Revista:
BMC Public Health
Assunto da revista:
SAUDE PUBLICA
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Bélgica