Decomposing Socioeconomic Inequality in Health Literacy in Iran: A Concentration Index Approach.

Healthcare disparities health literacy health status disparities socioeconomic factors

Journal

International journal of preventive medicine
ISSN: 2008-7802
Titre abrégé: Int J Prev Med
Pays: Iran
ID NLM: 101535380

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
2019
Historique:
received: 20 12 2018
accepted: 02 06 2019
entrez: 6 3 2020
pubmed: 7 3 2020
medline: 7 3 2020
Statut: epublish

Résumé

Health literacy is a major factor for health promotion and well-being. In spite of several researches on health literacy, information on the subject of the status of health literacy in Asian countries such as Iran is inadequate. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the inequality of health literacy in an Iranian population and its influencing factors. In this cross-sectional study, 736 families were selected by cluster random sampling. A validated questionnaire was used to measure the health literacy of participants. Socioeconomic status (SES) was calculated by asset-based approach, and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to estimate the families' SES. Concentration index and curve were used to measure SES inequality in health literacy, and after that decomposed into its determinants. The data were analyzed by Stata software. The mean age of the participants was 34.81 years (standard deviation = 5.98 years). The value of concentration index for health literacy equals 0.2292 (95% confidence interval = 0.168-0.283), and this value indicates that there is inequality in distribution of health literacy in Iran and the inequality disfavors the poor. The results of this study revealed that there is inequality in distribution of health literacy in Iran, and people of higher economic status in Iran enjoy from better health literacy levels.

Sections du résumé

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND
Health literacy is a major factor for health promotion and well-being. In spite of several researches on health literacy, information on the subject of the status of health literacy in Asian countries such as Iran is inadequate. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the inequality of health literacy in an Iranian population and its influencing factors.
METHODS METHODS
In this cross-sectional study, 736 families were selected by cluster random sampling. A validated questionnaire was used to measure the health literacy of participants. Socioeconomic status (SES) was calculated by asset-based approach, and principal component analysis (PCA) was performed to estimate the families' SES. Concentration index and curve were used to measure SES inequality in health literacy, and after that decomposed into its determinants. The data were analyzed by Stata software.
RESULTS RESULTS
The mean age of the participants was 34.81 years (standard deviation = 5.98 years). The value of concentration index for health literacy equals 0.2292 (95% confidence interval = 0.168-0.283), and this value indicates that there is inequality in distribution of health literacy in Iran and the inequality disfavors the poor.
CONCLUSIONS CONCLUSIONS
The results of this study revealed that there is inequality in distribution of health literacy in Iran, and people of higher economic status in Iran enjoy from better health literacy levels.

Identifiants

pubmed: 32133102
doi: 10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_565_18
pii: IJPVM-10-184
pmc: PMC6826687
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Pagination

184

Informations de copyright

Copyright: © 2019 International Journal of Preventive Medicine.

Déclaration de conflit d'intérêts

There are no conflicts of interest.

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Auteurs

Amir Almasi-Hashiani (A)

Department of Epidemiology, School of Health, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.

Mahmoud Abbasi (M)

Medical Ethics and Law Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Mohammad Tavakol (M)

Sociology Department, School of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.

Vali Baigi (V)

Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Mehri Mohammadi (M)

School of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.

Javad Nazari (J)

School of Medicine, Arak University of Medical Sciences, Arak, Iran.

Esmaeil Khedmati Morasae (EK)

National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care North West Coast (NIHR CLAHRC NWC), Institute of Psychology, Health, and Society, Department of Health Services Research, University of Liverpool, UK.

Yahya Shadi (Y)

Zanjan University of Medical Sciences, Zanjan, Iran.

Majid Taheri (M)

Medical Ethics and Law Research Center, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.

Classifications MeSH