Comparison of health literacy and genetic literacy levels of second trimester pregnant women and their status of performing prenatal tests

In this study, the health literacy and genetic literacy levels of second trimester pregnant women and their status of prenatal tests were compared. The study was carried out descriptively with 240 women in the second trimester of pregnancy via social networking. The data were collected between July 15 and December 26, 2023 using the "Descriptive Information Form", "Health Literacy Scale-Short Form" and "Genetic Literacy and Understanding Scale". All of the data obtained from the study were analyzed in SPSS Statistics 24.00 package program. The mean score of health literacy was 34.55, the mean score of genetic literacy was 31.80, the mean score of familiarity with genetic terms was 26.68 and the mean score of genetic knowledge was 5.12. It was determined that 62.5% of pregnant women had any prenatal test before birth, there was a significant difference between the health literacy, genetic literacy, familiarity with genetic terms and genetic knowledge scores of women who had and did not have prenatal screening tests, and women who had prenatal screening tests had higher health literacy, genetic literacy, familiarity with genetic terms and genetic knowledge scores. In conclusion, genetic literacy, health literacy levels and knowledge affect the use of prenatal screening tests. A significant difference was found between the income status of the women's families and the use of prenatal screening tests. In conclusion, genetic literacy, health literacy levels and knowledge affect the use of prenatal screening tests.