IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i8p1324-d222346.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Health Literacy: Current Status and Challenges in the Work of Family Doctors in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Author

Listed:
  • Nevena Todorovic

    (Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Save Mrkalja 14, 78 000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

  • Aleksandra Jovic-Vranes

    (Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Dr. Subotica 8, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Bosiljka Djikanovic

    (Institute of Social Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Dr. Subotica 8, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Natasa Pilipovic-Broceta

    (Family Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Banja Luka, Save Mrkalja 14, 78 000 Banja Luka, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

  • Nadja Vasiljevic

    (Institute of Hygiene and Medical Ecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Dr. Subotica 8, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia)

  • Maja Racic

    (Department for Primary Health Care, Faculty of Medicine, University of East Sarajevo, Studentska 5, 73300 Foca, Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Abstract

Health literacy (HL) has become an important area of research. The aim of this study was to evaluate the HL of primary healthcare patients in the Republic of Srpska (RS), Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) and to identify socioeconomic and health factors associated with HL. This cross-sectional study among 768 patients was conducted in two healthcare centres between March and May 2017, using the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA). Analysis was done using descriptive and inferential statistics (a chi-squared test and logistic regression). Inadequate and marginal HL was found in 34,6% of respondents. Socioeconomic and self-reported health factors were significantly related to HL. An age of 55 years and over (OR 1.02), living in a rural environment (OR 2.25), being divorced (OR 3.32), being insufficiently physically active (OR 1.29), having poor income (OR 1.96), having more than three chronic diseases (OR 1.94), and poor health (OR 1.59) were significantly corelated with inadequate and marginal HL. The results of our study indicate that a low level of HL is related to the elderly, having a divorce, having a rural residence, poor income, having more than three chronic diseases, poor health, and insufficient physical activity. Further evaluation, monitoring, and activities to improve HL are of great importance for patients’ health outcomes.

Suggested Citation

  • Nevena Todorovic & Aleksandra Jovic-Vranes & Bosiljka Djikanovic & Natasa Pilipovic-Broceta & Nadja Vasiljevic & Maja Racic, 2019. "Health Literacy: Current Status and Challenges in the Work of Family Doctors in Bosnia and Herzegovina," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(8), pages 1-12, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:8:p:1324-:d:222346
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/8/1324/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/8/1324/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lindsay C. Kobayashi & Jane Wardle & Michael S. Wolf & Christian von Wagner, 2016. "Aging and Functional Health Literacy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(3), pages 445-457.
    2. Al Sayah, F. & Johnson, S.T. & Vallance, J., 2016. "Health literacy, pedometer, and self-reported walking among older adults," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 106(2), pages 327-333.
    3. Aleksandra Jovic-Vranes & Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic & Jelena Marinkovic & Nikola Kocev, 2011. "Health literacy in a population of primary health-care patients in Belgrade, Serbia," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(2), pages 201-207, April.
    4. Klaus Eichler & Simon Wieser & Urs Brügger, 2009. "The costs of limited health literacy: a systematic review," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 54(5), pages 313-324, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Lopez, Claude & Kim, Bumyang & Sacks, Katherine, 2022. "Health Literacy in the United States: Enhancing Assessments and Reducing Disparities," MPRA Paper 114019, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Nicole Black & Johannes S. Kunz, 2019. "The Intergenerational Effects of Language Proficiency on Child Health Outcomes," Monash Economics Working Papers 05-19, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    3. Aleksandra Jovic-Vranes & Vesna Bjegovic-Mikanovic & Jelena Marinkovic & Nikola Kocev, 2011. "Health literacy in a population of primary health-care patients in Belgrade, Serbia," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 56(2), pages 201-207, April.
    4. Susanne Mayer & Jonah Spickschen & K Viktoria Stein & Richard Crevenna & Thomas E Dorner & Judit Simon, 2019. "The societal costs of chronic pain and its determinants: The case of Austria," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(3), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Yoon K Loke & Ina Hinz & Xia Wang & Gill Rowlands & David Scott & Charlotte Salter, 2012. "Impact of Health Literacy in Patients with Chronic Musculoskeletal Disease–Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 7(7), pages 1-8, July.
    6. Janka Poráčová & Ivan Uher & Hedviga Vašková & Tatiana Kimáková & Mária Konečná & Marta Mydlárová Blaščáková & Vincent Sedlák, 2022. "Effectiveness of Adherence to a Mediterranean Diet in the Management of Overweight Women: The Prospective Interventional Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-12, November.
    7. Kevin Rudolf & Bianca Biallas & Lea A. L. Dejonghe & Christopher Grieben & Lisa-Marie Rückel & Andrea Schaller & Gerrit Stassen & Holger Pfaff & Ingo Froböse, 2019. "Influence of Health Literacy on the Physical Activity of Working Adults: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of the TRISEARCH Trial," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-13, December.
    8. Orkan Okan & Torsten Michael Bollweg & Eva-Maria Berens & Klaus Hurrelmann & Ullrich Bauer & Doris Schaeffer, 2020. "Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy: A Cross-Sectional Study in Adults during the COVID-19 Infodemic in Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-20, July.
    9. Black, Nicole & Kunz, Johannes S., 2024. "The intergenerational effects of language proficiency on child health outcomes: Evidence from survey- and Census-matched health care records," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 136-152.
    10. Lara Lindert & Lukas Kühn & Paulina Kuper & Kyung-Eun (Anna) Choi, 2022. "Organizational Health Literacy in the Context of Employee Health: An Expert-Panel-Guided Scoping Review Protocol," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(7), pages 1-9, April.
    11. Simon Deeming & Kim Edmunds & Alice Knight & Andrew Searles & Anthony P. Shakeshaft & Christopher M. Doran, 2022. "A Benefit-Cost Analysis of BackTrack, a Multi-Component, Community-Based Intervention for High-Risk Young People in a Rural Australian Setting," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(16), pages 1-12, August.
    12. Ken Hok Man Ho & Graeme Drummond Smith, 2020. "A discursive paper on the importance of health literacy among foreign domestic workers during outbreaks of communicable diseases," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(23-24), pages 4827-4833, December.
    13. Black, Nicole & Kunz, Johannes S., 2024. "The intergenerational effects of language proficiency on child health outcomes: Evidence from survey- and Census-matched health care records," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 136-152.
    14. Joy Agner & Katharine Elizabeth Bau & Dirk Bruland, 2024. "An Introduction to Health Literacy and Social Contexts with Recommendations for Health Professionals and Researchers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 21(2), pages 1-14, February.
    15. Mariusz Duplaga, 2020. "The Acceptance of Key Public Health Interventions by the Polish Population Is Related to Health Literacy, But Not eHealth Literacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-19, July.
    16. Marija Jovanić & Marija Zdravković & Dejana Stanisavljević & Aleksandra Jović Vraneš, 2018. "Exploring the Importance of Health Literacy for the Quality of Life in Patients with Heart Failure," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-13, August.
    17. Andrew Clarke & Ingo E. Isphording, 2017. "Language Barriers and Immigrant Health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(6), pages 765-778, June.
    18. Katharina Achstetter & Julia Köppen & Matthias Haltaufderheide & Philipp Hengel & Miriam Blümel & Reinhard Busse, 2022. "Health Literacy of People with Substitutive Private Health Insurance in Germany and Their Assessment of the Health System Performance According to Health Literacy Levels: Results from a Survey," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-17, December.
    19. Peta Harbour & Laurie Grealish, 2018. "Health literacy of the baby boomer generation and the implications for nursing," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(19-20), pages 3472-3481, October.
    20. Anna I I King & Michal L Boyd & Lynelle Dagley & Deborah L Raphael, 2018. "Implementation of a gerontology nurse specialist role in primary health care: Health professional and older adult perspectives," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3-4), pages 807-818, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:8:p:1324-:d:222346. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.