Association between Health Literacy and Self-care Behaviors with Traditional Thai Medicine during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

Background Health literacy is a multidimensional concept that can lead to changing self-care behaviors. Objective This study aimed to assess health literacy, self-care behaviors, and factors related to self-care behaviors in traditional Thai medicine during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods This cross-sectional study included 422 participants. The questionnaire consisted of sociodemographic characteristics, health literacy of traditional Thai medicine with COVID-19, and self-care behavior with traditional Thai medicine in relation to COVID-19. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent-sample test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient. Results The mean score for communication to promote health was high (34.6±8.4). The mean score of overall health literacy was moderate (156.8±20.7), followed by self-care behavior (45.6±6.0), access to health information and services (30.5±5.2), and health knowledge and understanding (26.7±2.6). Pearson correlation coefficient analysis showed that there were significantly positive self-care behaviors, namely, access to health information and services (P-value < 0.001), communication to promote health (P-value < 0.001), media and information literacy (P-value < 0.043), and overall health literacy (P-value < 0.003), while informed decision-making was significantly negatively associated with self-care behaviors (P-value < 0.004). Conclusion Increasing overall health literacy and each dimension was associated with self-care behaviors. The findings suggest that interventional programs to develop health literacy are required to improve self-care behaviors.