Health literacy of Brazilian undergraduate students: a cluster analysis

Abstract

Background To assess the Brazilian undergraduate health students' health literacy level and identify sociodemographic factors related to health literacy using cluster analysis. Methods A descriptive and cross-sectional study with 352 undergraduate nursing, physiotherapy, nutrition, psychology, and pharmacy students. Sociodemographic, health perception, and health condition data were collected. Cluster analysis was based on the nine Health Literacy Questionnaire scales to identify students with similar health literacy profiles. Results The scales 3 - Actively managing my health (2.81) and 9 - Understand health information well enough to know what to do (3.78) had the highest scores, and scales 1 - Feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers (2.74) and 6 - Ability to actively engage with healthcare providers (3.49) had the lowest. The analysis resulted in 8 clusters. Cluster A reported higher scores on all scales, representing 5.1% of the sample. This group consisted mainly of females (83.4%), whites (66.6%), older people (29.59 years), parents with complete or incomplete higher education (50.0%), and nursing students (38.8%). Cluster H consisted of fewer students (1.7%), females (100%), younger (21.1 years), parents with complete or incomplete higher education (66.6%), pharmacy students (50%), with lower mean scores on scales 3 (2.07), 6 (1.47), 7 (1.53), 8 (1.67) and 9 (1.37). Conclusion Brazilian undergraduate health students face multiple challenges in achieving an adequate level of health literacy. Women with the highest average age who were studying nursing declared themselves white, had parents with complete or incomplete higher education, and had better health literacy results and aspects that should be considered when designing educational interventions for this population.