Evaluation of the relationship between health literacy level and application to a health institution

Aim: Health literacy is thought to have an impact on applying to health services. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between applying to a health institution and the level of health literacy. Method: Our study is cross-sectional and was conducted at the Department of Family Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University between March-October 2024. The study included 328 literate patients aged 18 and over who applied to the Family Medicine outpatient clinics and the Education Family Health Unit of the Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University. A questionnaire form including sociodemographic characteristics and the Turkish Health Literacy Scale (TSOY-32) was applied to the participants via face-to-face interviews. Application numbers were evaluated via e-nabiz. Results: The median age of the participants included in our study was 44 (IQR: 28,5-59,0) years, 61,6% (n=202) were female, 90,2% (n=296) were from non-healthcare occupations, 49,1% (n=161) were university graduates, 52,7% (n=173) did not have a chronic disease, and 35,1% (n=115) had high health literacy. The median number of total applications of the participants in the last year was 16 (IQR: 10-23), while the primary care was 7,5 (IQR: 4-13) and the tertiary care was 0 (IQR: 0-1). The median percentage of the first care of the total number of applications in the last year was 48 (IQR: 33,3-66,6) and the median percentage of the tertiary care was 0 (IQR: 0,0-5,2). No significant relationship was found between high/low health literacy and age (p=0,334), gender (p=0,966), occupation (p=0,278), educational status (p=0,350) and presence of chronic disease (p=0,281). No difference was observed between high/low health literacy and total number of applications (p=0,743), number of primary care applications (p=0,155) and number of tertiary care applications (p=0,381). Conclusion: In our study, no significant relationship was found between the level of health literacy and application to a health institution in individuals aged 18 and over. It was concluded that further studies are needed to determine the factors affecting application to health services. Keywords: Health Literacy, Health Services, Health Services Needs and Demand, Primary Health Care, Family Practice, Patient Preferences