Objective To analyze the levels and influencing factors of health literacy in civil servants, teachers, medical staff, public institution employees, and enterprise workers in Gansu Province, and provide scientific evidence for developing health education programs.
Methods From November 2016 to February 2017, a multi-stage random sampling method was adopted to select permanent residents aged 18-69 from counties (cities) of Gansu Province. General demographic characteristics were collected, the "2016 national residents' health literacy monitoring questionnaire" was used to understand the health literacy levels of the respondents, and the rates of health literacy possession (health literacy possession refers to 80% or more of the total score) were calculated. Rao-Scott adjusted chi-square test and logistic regression were used to compare the levels of health literacy and analyze the influencing factors of health literacy.
Results The five occupational groups investigated in this study totaled 2 031 people, including 294 civil servants, 324 teachers, 177 medical professionals, 496 public institution employees, and 740 enterprise workers. The overall rate of health literacy possession was 17.67%, and the rates in the five occupational categories were 30.77% for medical staff, 24.21% for teachers, 17.56% for civil servants, 16.16% for public institution employees, and 12.44% for enterprise workers, respectively, with a statistical difference among the five groups (χ2=31.33, P < 0.01). The results of logistic regression analysis showed that genderfemale vs male, OR (95%CI)=1.32 (1.03-1.69), ethic groupminority vs Han, OR (95%CI)=0.46 (0.30-0.70), and education levelcollege and above vs primary school and below, OR (95%CI)=4.48 (2.09-9.59) were the influencing factors of health literacy of the five occupational groups.
Conclusion The level of health literacy needs further improvement, and is diverse among the five occupational groups in Gansu Province, indicating that occupational characteristics should be a concern when developing strategies for health education for occupational groups.
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