Health literacy of students. Results of an online survey at the Bochum health university (Germany) / Gesundheitskompetenz Studierender – Ergebnisse einer Online-Befragung an der Hochschule für Gesundheit Bochum
Published Online: Apr 25, 2018
Page range: 44 - 52
Received: Nov 08, 2017
Accepted: Mar 28, 2018
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/ijhp-2018-0007
Keywords
© 2018 Sibylle Reick, Thomas Hering
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.
Background
Aims
The study describes the health literacy of students at a German health university. It investigates the influence of sociodemographic and course-related factors on health literacy. The results are compared with those of the general population from Germany.
Methodology
Study participants were recruited by email. 203 students took part in the online survey (response rate 20.2%). From the European Health Literacy Questionaire 16 (HLS-EU-Q16) 127 datasets of students were completely available and were analyzed in this study. In addition to health literacy, sociodemographic and course-related factors were ascertained.
Results
39 (30.7%) of the students have a sufficient or excellent health literacy. On average, health literacy is lower in the group of students of health-related courses (M=30.6) than in the normal German population (M=34.5). The levels are particularly low in the dimensions of
Conclusion
The results must be interpreted with care. They can be used as a base for long-term monitoring of students’ health literacy and provide starting points for health promotion within the academic setting. Students of health-related degree should be encouraged to reflect on their own and others health literacy, as this is important for their future work with patients or clients.