Health literacy and infectious diseases: why does it matter?
File(s)
OA Location
Author(s)
Castro Sanchez, E
Chang, PW
Vila-Candel, R
Escobedo, AA
Holmes, AH
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: Multifactorial interventions are crucial to arrest the threat posed by infectious diseases. Public involvement requires adequate information, but determinants such as health literacy can impact on the effective use of such knowledge. The influence of health literacy on infectious diseases is examined in this paper. METHODS: Databases were searched from January 1999 through July 2015 seeking studies reporting on health literacy and infections such tuberculosis, malaria or influenza, or infection-related behaviours such as vaccination or hand hygiene. HIV was excluded as comprehensive reviews had already been published. RESULTS: Studies were found on antibiotic knowledge and use, adoption of influenza and MMR immunisations, screening for sexually transmitted and viral hepatitis infections. There was a lack of investigations on areas such as tuberculosis, malaria, hand hygiene or diarrhoeal diseases. CONCLUSIONS: Limited or insufficient health literacy was associated with reduced adoption of protective behaviours such as immunisation, or inadequate understanding of antibiotics, although the relation was not consistent. Large gaps remain related to infectious diseases with high clinical and societal impact such as tuberculosis or malaria.
Date Issued
2016-01-02
Date Acceptance
2015-12-24
Citation
International Journal of Infectious Diseases, 2016, 43, pp.103-110
ISSN
1878-3511
Publisher
Elsevier
Start Page
103
End Page
110
Journal / Book Title
International Journal of Infectious Diseases
Volume
43
Copyright Statement
© 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/bync-nd/4.0/).
Sponsor
National Institute for Health Research
Identifier
PII: S1201-9712(15)00301-X
Grant Number
HPRU-2012-10047
Subjects
Health communication
Health literacy
Infectious diseases
Self-efficacy
Microbiology
Medical Microbiology
Publication Status
Published