Review of the association between health literacy levels and breastfeeding self-efficacy perceptions of pregnant women in age groups with risk and no risk

The study was conducted as a descriptive and correlational study in order to determine the health literacy levels and breastfeeding self-efficacy of in pregnant women and the factors affecting them and to examine the relationship between in age groups with risk and no risk. The study was conducted at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of the University of Health Sciences Ankara Gülhane Training and Research Hospital, Turkey from January 2023 to May 2023. 165 pregnant women who were in the third trimester and met the criteria were included in the study. The study was conducted on three different groups and 55 pregnant women in each of the adolescent age group, normal age group, and advanced age group were included in the study. "Socio-Demographic Questionnaire", "Prenatal Breastfeeding Self-Efficacy Scale (PBSES)" and "Turkish Health Literacy Scale (TSOY-32)" were used to collect data. For data with normal distribution, "Independent sample t-test" was used to compare the measurement values of two independent groups, and "ANOVA" was used to compare the measurement values of three or more independent groups. For data without normal distribution, "Mann-Whitney U-test" was used to compare the measurement values of two independent groups, and "Kruskal-Wallis H-test" was used to compare the measurement values of three or more independent groups. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0,05. Total PBSES mean scores by age groups were 70,69±13,76 in the adolescent age group, 75,80±12,56 normal age group and 81,15±12,01 in the advanced age group. PBSES mean scores of the pregnant women in the advanced age group were found to be significantly higher than those of the pregnant women in adolescent and normal age groups (p<0,05). TSOY-32 mean scores between the groups were adequate (adolescent group 34.53±8.19, normal age group 38.26±8.01, advanced age group 35.45±9.07) PBSES scores of the pregnant women increased with higher TSOY-32 scores (p<0,05). It was determined that the age factor in pregnancy is a variable that affects breastfeeding self-efficacy and is higher in the advanced age group. TSOY-32 levels in age groups were adequate. There was a positive association between health literacy levels and breastfeeding self-efficacy perceptions of pregnant women.