Malaysian Health Literacy: Scorecard Performance from a National Survey

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

EmmaMirza Wati Mohamad¹  SuraiyaSyed Mohamed²  Affendi Isa²  Norrafizah Jaafar³  Manimaran Krishnan³  TeresaYong Sui Mien³  MohammadZabri Johari³  Masitah Ahmad³  KamarulZaman Salleh³  Komathi Perialathan³  Nurashma Juatan³  NorHanizah Abu Hanit⁴  WanShakira Rodzlan Hasani⁴ 

[1] Centre for Research in Media and Communication, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Malaysia;Health Education Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Putrajaya 62590, Malaysia;Institute for Health Behavioural Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia;Institute of Public Health, Ministry of Health Malaysia, Shah Alam 40170, Malaysia;

关键词: health literacy;    healthcare;    disease prevention;    health promotion;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph18115813

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Health literacy is an indicator of a society’s ability to make better health judgements for themselves and the people around them. This study investigated the prevalence of health literacy among Malaysian adults and provided an overall picture of the society’s current health literacy status, which has not been previously assessed. The study also highlighted socio-demographic markers of communities with limited health literacy that may warrant future intervention. A population-based self-administered survey using the Health Literacy Survey Malaysian Questionnaire18 (HLS-M-Q18) instrument was conducted as part of the National Health Morbidity Survey 2019 in Malaysia. The nationwide survey utilized a two-staged stratified random sampling method. A sample of 9478 individuals aged 18 and above, drawn from the living quarter list, participated in the study. The health literacy score was divided into three levels; limited, sufficient, and excellent. Findings showed a majority of the Malaysian population had a sufficient health literacy level in all three domains—healthcare, diseases prevention and health promotion (49.1%, 44.2%, and 47.5%, respectively)—albeit leaning towards the lower end of the category with an average score of 35.5. The limited health literacy groups were prevalent among respondents with older age (68%), lower education level (64.8%), and lower household income (49.5%). The overall health literacy status for Malaysia was categorized at a lower sufficiency level. Future health literacy improvements should focus on communities with a limited health literacy level to improve the overall score.

【 授权许可】

Unknown