The “infodemic” is one of the main obstacles in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to face it, health literacy (HL) is essential since it allows for knowledge about COVID-19 and the practice of preventive measures to be fostered. This is especially relevant in university students due to their idiosyncrasy. This study aims to evaluate the level of HL related to COVID-19 (HLC), risk perception, misinformation, and the attitudes and behaviors adopted to prevent the spread of coronavirus in Spanish university students. An online questionnaire was administered to 499 Spanish university students. The HLC index presented a mean of 33.89 out of 50; a total of 63.8% had an inadequate level of HLC. They practiced a mean of 7.54 out of 9 preventive behaviors, and the mean knowledge score was 10.40 out of 13. The HLC showed significantly different scores for the degree, the practice of preventive measures, and some sources of information. The level of HL correlates with the adoption of preventive measures. The higher the severity and perceived susceptibility, the more preventive measures are taken by the students. Therefore, there is a need to strengthen the HL skills of university students and address the dissemination of misinformation. Although caution should be taken when generalizing these results due to the limitations inherent within a cross-sectional study and the convenience sampling, our results can guide the establishment of health education strategies and policies for the management of the infodemic in pandemic situations, according to this target population.
In Spain, almost 13.01% of the Spanish population are immigrants. The latest reports published by the National Institute of Statistics (2021) indicate that most of the 5,235,375 foreigners come from Morocco, Romania and South America. In the last year, 2,124 immigrants arrived in small boats (National Institute of Statistics, 2021). These data suggest that, despite the current health crisis due to SARS-CoV-2, there is still a steady flow of immigration into Spain.In the south of Spain, in Andalusia, is located a strategic point of entry of immigrants to Europe from the African continent named Campo de Gibraltar County. It is located on the Mediterranean coast, just 14.4 km from the African coast, separated by the Strait of Gibraltar, where the arrival of small boats is frequent. The growing clandestine immigration that crosses the Strait of Gibraltar from Morocco constitutes a serious problem for the European Union. Most of the immigrants of Campo of Gibraltar County come from the most deprived regions of Morocco, sub-Saharan Africa, Algeria and Senegal, mainly. Very few have the condition of refugees, although this has currently been some increased due to the situation in Ukraine.The immigrant profile that usually arrives in this region is young, with primary studies or with no studies, and without economic resources, they flee from poverty being mostly in an irregular situation. This poverty is not only related to economic circumstances, but also to political, social, food and health deficiencies. In recent years, the arrival of women is increasing and alternative means of entry are established such as under trucks and buses and inside containers.
Health literacy (HL) is a result of health promotion and education that has been included as a nursing intervention since 2013. It was proposed, as a nursing activity, to “determine health literacy status at initiation of contact with the patient through informal and/or formal assessments”. Because of that, the outcome ‘Health Literacy Behaviour’ has been incorporated in the sixth edition of the Nursing Outcomes Classification (NOC). It collects the patient’s different HL levels and allows them to be identified and evaluated in a social and health context. Nursing outcomes are helpful and provide relevant information for the evaluation of nursing interventions. Objectives: To validate the contents of the nursing outcome ‘Health Literacy Behaviour (2015)’ in order to use them in nursing care plans, and to evaluate their psychometric properties, application level, and effectiveness in nursing care to detect low health literacy patients. Methods: a methodological two-phased study: (1) an exploratory study and content validation by expert consensus, who will evaluate revised content of nursing outcomes; (2) methodological design by clinical validation. Conclusion: The validation of this nursing outcome in NOC will enable the generation of a helpful tool that would facilitate nurses to set individualised and efficient care interventions and identify low health literacy populations.
The use of electronic cigarettes (e-cig) or personal vaporizers (PV) has increased in recent years, especially among adolescents and adults, increasing risk factors for their health or being a starting point for other risk behaviours. The aim of our study is to learn the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours of the adolescent and young adult population on the use of e-cigarettes or PVs. A cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out among 375 subjects. The use of e-cigs or PVs was measured using a self-administered questionnaire. Overall, 13.33% of the respondents used e-cigarettes or PVs. A correlation could be established between vape use and age, with 14–18-year-olds being the highest users (25.9%). Additionally, 90.13% of the respondents answered that e-cig or PV use was harmful to health. Other behaviours, such as consumption of energy drinks (ED), increases the probability of vaping by 3.08 times (CI = 1.55–6.29; p = 0.001). Subjects aged 23–26 years and 27–34 years are less likely to vape than subjects aged 14–18 years (OR = 0.31: CI = 0.09–0.96; p = 0.044; OR = 0.07: CI = 0.00–0.63; p = 0.037). The same applies to subjects with secondary education (OR = 0.17: CI = 0.04–0.66; p = 0.011) and postgraduate education (OR = 0.07: CI = 0.06–1.19; p = 0.043), than subjects with primary education. The use of e-cigs and PVs starts at an early age, despite the known harmful effects of e-cigs and PVs. Their use may occur mainly in recreational situations and in association with other substances such as ED.
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