Exploring health literacy needs in Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): Associations between demographic, clinical variables, psychological well-being and health literacy.

BACKGROUND: The World Health Organization (WHO) points to health literacy as an important factor in prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), including COPD.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate associations between selected demographic and clinical variables, psychological well-being and health literacy.

METHODS: Health literacy was measured using the nine domain Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) and one domain from the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ). Using data from a cross-sectional sample of 158 people with COPD, recruited from a hospital-based patient list period (2014-2016), multiple regression analyses were performed.

RESULTS: The strongest associated variables with health literacy were psychological well-being, measured by the WHO-5 well-being index and education, indicating that higher psychological well-being and educational level are associated with higher levels of health literacy.

CONCLUSION: The present study highlights the importance of specifically looking to psychological factors in determining potentially health literacy needs among people with COPD.