Evaluation of the relationship between health literacy and patient rights knowledge: The case of Ankara province

The aim of this study is to determine the relationship between individuals' health literacy levels and their knowledge of patient rights, to examine whether this relationship varies according to demographic variables, and to examine the effect of health literacy levels on the level of knowledge of patient rights. The research was conducted using a descriptive and correlational screening model. The population of the study consists of individuals aged 20 and over living in Ankara. Simple random sampling method was used in sample selection, and a total of 250 participants were reached. Data were collected through the "Patient Rights Knowledge Level Questionnaire" developed by Kaya (2018) and the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-Q). The surveys were administered online via Google Forms, and the appropriate data were then analyzed using the IBM SPSS 26 program. The data were evaluated using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analyses. As a result of the research, it was determined that 51.2% of the participants had a "sufficient" level of health literacy, and 22.4% had an "excellent" level. Participants were found to have a high level of awareness of fundamental patient rights such as access to healthcare, access to information, and privacy. However, they were found to have lower levels of knowledge regarding ethically more complex or lesser-known rights. The vast majority of participants expressed a positive opinion (over 80%) on issues such as the right to choose and change healthcare providers. Research findings indicated a significant and positive correlation between individuals' health literacy levels and their knowledge of patient rights (p<0.01). Furthermore, health literacy was found to have a strong and positive impact on patient rights knowledge (β = 0.56, p < 0.001). Individuals' age, gender, education level, occupation, social security status, regular medication use, monthly hospital visit frequency, and first healthcare provider visit were found to create significant differences in both health literacy and patient rights knowledge.