Journal of Education and Health Promotion

Health literacy in patients with epidermolysis bullosa in Iran

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

. Mohammad Mahdi Parvizi 1
. Kamran Bagheri Lankarani 2
. Farhad Handjani 3
. Sulmaz Ghahramani 4
. Zahra Parvizi 5
. Sara Rousta 6

1 Molecular Dermatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

2 Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

3 Molecular Dermatology Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, IranDepartment of Dermatology, School of Medicine, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

4 Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran,

5 Health Policy Research Center, Institute of Health, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, Administration of Laboratories Office, Vice Chancellor of Treatment, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

6 Department of Medical-Surgical Nursing, Fatemeh (PBUH) School of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Health literacy is a set of different skills, including reading, listening, analyzing,
deciding, and applying these skills related to health status. Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare
hereditary genetic disease which affects several aspects of the life of patients and their families. The
aim of this study was to assess the health literacy of patients with EB in Iran.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: Thirty‑three patients from Iran with EB, aged above 15 years-old,
were enrolled in the study. Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire, which measures health literacy in
five domains including reading, access, perception, assessment, and decision-making skills, was
used for collecting the data. SPSS analytical software, version 22, was used for statistical analysis.
RESULTS: In total, 19 (57.6%) patients were male and 14 (42.4%) female with an age range of
15-41 years. Nineteen (57.6%) patients had inadequate health literacy in reading skills. One‑third of
patients had enough health literacy in the realm of access, and two‑thirds were excellent in perception.
Overall, there was no significant correlation between the level of health literacy with age (P = 0.92),
sex (P = 0.55), race (P = 0.58), and educational level (P = 0.51) of the patients.
CONCLUSION: The majority of the patients had inadequate health literacy in reading skills while
these patients had acceptable health literacy in perception, assessment, and decision‑making skills.
Improvement of health literacy of these patients should be a priority for health policy makers with the
aim of increasing their quality of life and decreasing their personal and social problems.

Keywords

Epidermolysis bullosa
health literacy
Iran
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Journal of Education and Health Promotion
Volume 7, Issue 6
December 2017
Pages 1-6

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