@2024 Afarand., IRAN

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ISSN: 2383-2150    Journal of Education and Community Health 2018;5(1):36-41

Background
Health literacy in the mental health of women has been shown more and more and its impact on the women’s’ health and consequently, community health has been emphasized [3-1].
Previous Studies
... [4]. Unfortunately, the disadvantages of women's addiction in Iranian society is increasing. According to the available social studies, the unstable and disarranged family environments have been reported as the most underlying and effective factors for women's tendency to drug abuse [5, 6]. Based on the results of some studies, the negative effects of peer groups may affect the behavior of girls and women more than boys and men [7]. Addicted women have more psychological problems than other women. Based on the available evidences, depression or anxiety disorders are the most common disorders among addicted women [8, 9]. It should be noted that addiction in women is associated with other complications, such as unintended pregnancy, abortion, HIV infection and premature menopause [10, 11]. Several studies have reported a wide range of inadequate health literacy in different countries [13, 12]. In this regard, a study in Iran in (2013) showed that 88% of women and 73.4% of men had inadequate health literacy [14]. In another study, only 45.4% of women were found with adequate health literacy [15]. ... [16, 17].
Aim(s)
The present study was conducted to determine the relationship between health literacy and addiction in women of reproductive age referring to the recovery centers in Tehran, Iran.
Research type
This research is a descriptive-analytical (cross-sectional) study.
Research society, place and time
This study was done on women of reproductive age referring to the recovery centers in Tehran in 2017.
Sampling method and number
The samples (144 subjects) were selected through the census sampling method. The inclusion criteria included drug abuse for at least one year, no mental disorder, the age range of 18 to 45 years, and at least secondary school education. No willingness to continue cooperation in the study was considered as exclusion criteria.
Used devices&materials
The subjects were informed about the study objectives and the informed consent was obtained from the participants before study. Data was collected using the Health Literacy for Iranian Adults Questionnaire (HELIA) developed by Montazeri et al. [18]. HELIA is consisted of two parts, the first part assesses demographic information, and the second part is comprised of 33 items in which the different dimensions of health literacy are measured on a 5-point Likert scale. It measures dimensions, including reading skill (4 questions), access (6 questions), understanding (7 questions), evaluation (4 questions), and decision-making and use of health information (12 questions). Generally, the total score of health literacy is calculated by summing up the scores of different dimensions of health literacy for each person, which is ranged from 33 to 165. A higher score represents higher levels of health literacy. On the other hand, in order to measure the amount of addiction, the type and amount of substance used by the participants were studied. In this research descriptive indices (mean, standard deviation, percentage, etc.) were used for descriptive purposes. Pearson correlation test was used to determine the coefficient of correlation of variables and One-way ANOVA was used to compare the mean of health literacy score in terms of demographic variables. Statistical analysis was performed using SPSS 20 software at a significant level of less than 0.05.
Findings by Text
The mean age of participants was 33.04±9.67 years. 37.6% of the participants had diploma and 35.5% had non-governmental jobs. In addition, 37.6% of the participants received health-related information through the Internet. 69.5% of the participants also reported that they were using methamphetamine; followed by opium (17.7%), methadone (3.4%), heroin (3.5%), marijuana (3.5%) and cocaine 1.4%, respectively. On the other hand, the average total score of health literacy of women participating in the study was 65.11±16.49. It should be noted that there was a negative and significant correlation between the health literacy and addiction in women participating in the study (p<0.05). The relationship between health literacy and the demographic variables of the participants in the study is presented in Table 1. The results of one-way ANOVA showed that there was a significant relationship between the type of addiction, education level and occupation of the participants in the study and health literacy (p<0.05). In other words, people with higher education, cocaine users and retired people have lower levels of health literacy. The mean and standard deviation of different dimensions of health literacy among the participants are presented in Table 2. According to the findings, among different dimensions of health literacy, evaluation (31.5%), reading (28.6%), decision-making and use of health information (24.88%), access (23.55%) and understanding (17.82%) showed the maximum and minimum achievable mean score. In other words, evaluation was more favorable in comparison with other dimensions of health literacy.
Main comparison to the similar studies
The results showed that there was a significant relationship between health literacy and addiction in women of reproductive age, which is consistent with the results of some studies on health literacy [7, 14, 19]. In the study by Manganello et al., health literacy has been mentioned as the main factor of mental health among men and women [20]. Von Wagner et al. also concluded that lower-educated women are more vulnerable to environmental stresses, and health literacy make people able to deny major abnormalities [16]. On the other hand, the results of this study indicated that there was a significant statistical relationship between occupation, education level and type of addiction with the health literacy of addicted women. This finding is consistent with the results of similar studies [15]. However, according to the study by Saules et al. there was no significant relationship between health literacy and the level of education. This difference can be due to a different statistical population of the study with the present study [21]. ... [22]. In this study, evaluation (31.5%) and understanding (17.82%) showed the highest and lowest maximum achievable mean scores among different dimensions of health literacy, respectively, which is consistent with the results of some other studies on health literacy. In all of these studies, the mean score of health literacy has been reported less than half of the achievable score [20]. On the other hand, this finding is not consistent with the results of some other studies. These studies have reported the mean score of different dimensions of health literacy more than half of the achievable score [23].
Suggestions
Qualitative and interventional studies as well as similar studies in other demographic groups are recommended.
Limitations
One of the limitations of the present study was the self-reported method of data collection and the accurate information was not possibly provided by the participants.
Conclusions
There is a reverse and significant correlation between health literacy and addiction in women of reproductive age in Tehran, which indicates the need for educational interventions to improve the health literacy in this vulnerable group.
Acknowledgments
The departments, including the Vice-Chancellor for Research and Technology as well as all who helped us in this research are appreciated.
Conflict of interest
None declared.
Ethical Permissions
The present study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Research from the Islamic Azad University, Tehran Branch.
Funding Sources
This study is extracted from a master's thesis of the Islamic Azad University, Science and Research Branch, Tehran.

TABLES and CHARTS

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