Özet:

INTRODUCTION: The aim of this study was to evaluate the health literacy level of patients applied to Family Health Centers. METHODS: ��The Health Literacy Questionnaire�� developed by the European Union was used to determine the level of health literacy of the patients in this cross-sectional study. The population of the study was composed of adult patients who applied to the Family Health Centers in �ankaya and live in same district. �ankaya is the district with the highest socio-economic level in Turkey. Five hundred patients from 25 Family Health Centers participated in the study. RESULTS: The mean of overall health literacy index of the patients was 30.25�7.28. It was observed that 20.90% of the patients had inadequate, 48.30% had limited, 24.90% had sufficient and 5.90% had excellent health literacy. It was found that the general level or sub-indices of patients� health literacy differed significantly by age, educational status, working status, monthly income status, general health status, having a chronic disease, number of visits to family physician and visits by family physician in the last 12 months (p <0.05). DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: The health literacy of the majority of patients is insufficient or limited. This reveals the need to carry out activities aimed at increasing health literacy.

Anahtar Kelimeler: