The effect of health literacy level on healthy behavior habits: Ankara City Hospital example

Health literacy is a valuable factor in improving individuals' quality of life and in the decisions they make regarding their own health. So much so that it can be said that health literacy directly affects an individual's healthy lifestyle behaviors. Healthy lifestyle behavior is of great importance for society because it includes health-protective behavior and health-promoting behavior. Therefore, this study aimed to measure the effect of health literacy on healthy lifestyle behavior. Along with this basic purpose, it was also aimed to determine the health literacy level of the research participants. The model created for this purpose and the hypotheses proposed based on the model were tested in the research. The research was carried out with a survey form applied to individuals applying to hospitals within Ankara City Hospital. The data set of the research was created with the data collected from 510 people who applied to the hospital, and the data set was analyzed with the SPSS package program. In addition to descriptive statistics, regression analysis was used in the study to see the effect of health literacy on healthy lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, correlation analysis was used to see the relationships between variables. To determine the level of health literacy, calculations were made within the framework of the formula obtained from the literature. Research results showed that the health literacy level of the participants was low. Additionally, no significant differences were found in terms of the variables tested in terms of gender, age groups and body mass index. Health literacy gave significant results in terms of education level. It has been determined that it gives significant results regarding individuals who smoke and drink alcohol in terms of nutrition. However, it was concluded that some of the hypotheses tested for the purpose of the research gave meaningful results and the proposed hypotheses were supported. It has been observed that especially the treatment and service dimension of health literacy gives significant results in its effect on the dimensions of healthy lifestyle behaviors. According to this result, it can be said that the treatment and service dimension has an effect on healthy lifestyle behaviors.