The relationship between health literacy and perceptions towards the pandemic during the COVID-19 pandemic

Health literacy is the ability of individuals to perceive and make sense of information about their general health status by shedding light on their ability to have an idea about health. The ability of individuals to have knowledge about their health will allow them to manage the problems they may experience in their health. The problems experienced due to the changes in the global world order are directly reflected on people's health and this makes health literacy gain importance day by day. The current COVID-19 pandemic has also created devastating effects in the field of health, causing the government and health authorities to intervene against the pandemic. Additionally, the rapid and easy distribution of information about COVID-19 with today's technologies has played an important role in shaping individuals' perceptions of the COVID-19 pandemic and revealed the importance of health literacy. This study was carried out to determine the health literacy levels of individuals and the factors affecting health literacy levels during the COVID-19 pandemic, to evaluate the general perception of the COVID-19 pandemic and its causes, and to determine the relationship between health literacy during the COVID-19 pandemic and perceptions about the pandemic. The research was conducted based on individuals aged 18 and over residing in the neighborhoods of Edirne. Survey method was used as a data collection tool. The data obtained as a result of the survey were analyzed by statistical methods using parametric and nonparametric tests. As a result of the analysis, in both the overall scale and its sub-dimensions, it was found that approximately 30%-32% of the survey participants in the central neighborhoods of Edirne had adequate health literacy levels. It has been determined that the health literacy levels and perceptions of individuals towards the COVID-19 pandemic differ according to some demographic characteristics, but not according to others. Whether the perceptions of individuals with different levels of SOY towards the COVID-19 pandemic differ or not varies according to the dimensions of the scale.