The associations between health literacy, reasons for seeking health information, and information sources utilized by Taiwanese adults

Abstract

Objective: To determine the associations between health literacy, the reasons for seeking health information, and the information sources utilized by Taiwanese adults. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 752 adults residing in rural and urban areas of Taiwan was conducted via questionnaires. Chi-squared tests and logistic regression were used for data analysis. Results: Health literacy was found to be lower among adults who were older, with lower educational attainment, with lower household income, with blue-collar occupation, and living in rural areas. After socio-demographic characteristics were controlled for, adults with adequate health literacy were significantly more likely than adults with inadequate or marginal health literacy to report desires for health-related information, autonomous medical decision making, and finding information on their own, as reasons for seeking health information. Adults with inadequate or marginal health literacy were more likely to cite recommendations from medical professionals and hesitation to ask medical professionals questions as their reasons for seeking health information. Adults with adequate health literacy were significantly more likely than those with inadequate or marginal health literacy to obtain health information from the Internet, books, newspapers, and magazines, and were less likely to seek health information from alternative care providers. Conclusion: The findings suggest the need to consider target groups’ health literacy when developing health education programmes. More attention must be focused on providing interventions that motivate information seeking and improve information-seeking skills for adults with limited health literacy.