Factors associated with the functional health literacy in women served by the Family Health Strategy

Abstract Background Functional health literacy (FHL) concerns the ability of individuals to understand health-related information, which is related to various health outcomes. Objective Investigate the association between FHL and socio-demographic factors, social support, self-assessment of health status and access to health services in women assisted by the Family Health Strategy (FHS). Method A cross-sectional study, conducted in 2015-2016, in two Primary Health Care Units covered by the FHS of a municipality in the Southeast region of Brazil. The sample consisted of 479 participants, aged between 24 and 64 years. FHL was evaluated by the Brief Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (B-TOFHLA). Prevalence Ratio (PR), with Confidence Interval (CI) of 95%, was performed. Subsequently, a Poisson regression model of robust variance was constructed, and statistical significance was accepted when p≤0.05. Results It was found that 53.5% of the women had a low FHL, which was associated with age over 40 (RP = 1.18, 95% CI: 1.07-1.31), low education level (RP = 1.26, 95% CI: 1.15-1.38), low income (RP = 1.13, 95% CI 1.04-1.23) and self-declaration brown or black skin color (PR = 1.06, 95% CI 1.01-1.12). Conclusion The results reinforce the importance of FHL use as a strategy for the management of populations with greater socioeconomic vulnerability.