Abstract:

Introduction and Aim: Health literacy is the cognitive and social skill capacity of individuals to understand and use health-related information in order to ensure, maintain and improve health well-being. In this study, it was aimed to examine the level of health literacy and related factors in adult individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic period. Materials and Methods: The population of the study: Individuals aged 18 and over, living in Istanbul. In the cross-sectional study, 1090 individuals were reached. The Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 (TSOY-32) was used as a data collection tool. Results: 15.8% of the participants were in the category of inadequate, 43.8% problematic-limited, 28.4% adequate and 12% excellent Health Literacy. Conclusion: Health literacy has a decisive role in the current and future health of individuals. Efforts should be made to increase the health literacy of the society. These studies should focus on conditions associated with low health literacy.

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