The relationship between media literacy and health literacy among pregnant women in health centers of Isfahan

Abstract

Background:The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and convey information in various forms of media including print and nonprint requires media literacy, but the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services needed for appropriate decisions regarding health, considered an important element in a woman's ability to participate in health promotion and prevention activities for herself and her children, is needed to a level of health literacy. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between media literacy and health literacy among pregnant women in health centers in Isfahan.Materials and Methods:This study used a descriptive correlation study. Data collection tools include Shahin media literacy and functional health literacy in adults’ questionnaires. The population include pregnant women in health centers of Isfahan (4080 people). Ten out of the 351 health centers in Isfahan were selected as cluster. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics.Results:Media literacy of respondents in the five dimensions was significantly lower than average 61.5% of pregnant women have inadequate health literacy, 18.8% had marginal health literacy, and only 19.7% of them have had adequate health literacy. There was a significant positive relationship between media literacy and health literacy among pregnant women.Conclusion:This study showed that the majority of pregnant women covered by health centers had limited health literacy and media literacy. Since one of the basic requirements for the utilization of health information is needed for adequate media literacy, promotion of media literacy is necessary for the respondents.

Health literacy status among pregnant women in a Brazilian conditional cash transfer programme: a cross-sectional investigation

“…This lower HL status observed in pregnant women recipients of a conditional cash transfer programme is concerning and consistent with other studies (Lori, et al, 2015;Akbarinejad, Soleymani & Shahrzadi, 2017) observed that more than half of pregnant women analysed presented inadequate HL. Lori, et al (2015) indicated that pregnant women with low HL interpret the information received incorrectly, execute health skills incorrectly during prenatal care, and do not understand that health services may help them and their families.…”

“…Our study population presented lower results in all structural factors than the studies by Abel, et al (2015), Guo, et al (2018) and Quemelo, et al, (2017). This result may be explained by the lower level of education of pregnant women investigated, considering there is a direct relationship between HL and levels of education (Duggan, et al, 2014;Castro-Sánchez, et al, 2018;Akbarinejad, Soleymani & Shahrzadi, 2017). It is worth noting that, despite the impact of level of education on HL, improving this parameter alone is not enough to improve HL levels (Lupattelli, et al, 2014).…”

“…Additionally, self-efficacy and school Research, Society and Development, v. 9, n. 11, e4979119650, 2020 (CC BY 4.0) | ISSN 2525-3409 | DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.33448/rsd-v9i11.9650 environment were important in predicting functional HL, whereas social support was an important predictor of the structural factors of interactive and critical HL. Akbarinejad, Soleymani & Shahrzadi, 2017) observed an indirect relationship between HL and age, which may be linked to the reduction in cognitive performance and sensory abilities. However, Duggan, et al (2014) indicated that HL improved as age increased.…”

“…Based on this concept, several studies on the HL of pregnant women have confirmed its association with inadequate beliefs about medications (Duggan, et al, 2014), low perception for the risk of self-medication, herbal medicines, and dental X-rays (Lupattelli, et al, 2014), frequent use of tobacco during pregnancy (Lupattelli, et al, 2014), negative perception on vaccinations (Castro-Sánchez, et al, 2018) and underutilisation of professional midwives and health services (Lori, et al, 2015), understanding maternal HL may provide health professionals with the information required to improve prenatal care (Yee, et al, 2017), and health promotion activities (Akbarinejad, Soleymani & Shahrzadi, 2017). However, understanding the distribution of HL in the general population remains challenging for public health and health promotion sectors (Abel, et al, 2015).…”

The Effect of the Parent-Child Relationship Enrichment Training Package With An Emphasis on the Internet Use: A Mixed Methods Approach

“…The test validity was confirmed by experts in the field of media, communication, and library. The reliability was calculated using the Cronbach α in the first to fifth dimensions, respectively, as 0.813, 0.899, 0.909, 0.926, 0.773, and totally, 0.971 (Akbarinejad, Soleymani, & Shahrzadi, 2017). The Persian version of the inventory was administered to the participants in this study, and its reliability was reported to be 0.95 using the Cronbach α coefficient.…”