Health literacy levels of sports sciences faculty students in a state university and associated factors

Abstract

Individuals with insufficient or limited health literacy use preventive health services less and have difficulty managing chronic diseases. Mortality and morbidity rates of these individuals are high. Students studying at the Faculty of Sports Sciences work as Physical Education Teachers, Coaches, and Sports Managers after graduation. Furthermore, many of these students continue their active sports life. Due to their profession, they or their athletes face many health problems such as acute and chronic sports injuries and cardiovascular diseases. In such cases, the level of health literacy comes to the fore. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the health literacy levels of the students of the Faculty of Sports Sciences in a state university and associated factors. The study sample consists of 196 (n=86 female and n=110 male) volunteer students studying at Usak University Faculty of Sports Sciences in the 2023-2024 academic year. Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32) was employed to determine the health literacy levels of the students. Following the approval of the Usak University Social and Human Sciences Scientific Research and Publication Ethics Committee, the data collection process was carried out in the classroom environment by using the face-to-face interview technique. The obtained data were evaluated using the SPSS 25.0 package software. A statistically significant difference was found in the student's health literacy levels according to the father's education level, family income status, and the place of residence of the family (p<0.05). The present study concluded that students' health literacy levels were inadequate and limited and that the father's education level, family income level, and the place of residence of the family were associated with health literacy.