Examination of the relationship between health anxiety levels and health literacy among women applying to the cancer early diagnosis, screening and training center

This research was conducted to examine the relationship between the health anxiety levels and health literacy of women applying to a cancer early detection, screening and training center. The research is a cross-sectional type descriptive research. It was conducted with 296 women between the ages of 30-65 who applied to the Cancer early detection, screening and training center affiliated with Kahramanmaraş Pazarcık District Health Directorate between 01 December 2022 and 28 February 2023. Random sampling method was used in sample selection. Personal Information Form, Health Anxiety Scale and Health Literacy Scale, prepared by scanning the literature, were used to collect data. SPSS package program was used to evaluate the data obtained. The normality test, which is the first stage of the analysis, was applied and kurtosis-skewness values were checked, number, percentage, mean, standard deviation, ANOVA, T test for independent variables, and correlation tests were applied. Statistical significance was accepted as p<0.05 or p<0.001. The Health Anxiety Scale total score average of the women participating in the study was 37.17±12.60 and the Health Literacy Scale total score average was 33.72±9.16. As a result of our research, it was determined that there was a negative relationship between health anxiety level and health literacy. It was observed that the level of health anxiety among women participating in the study decreased as health literacy increased. Keywords: Health anxiety; Health literacy; Cancer; Screening.