title: Relationships of health literacy, health behavior, and health status regarding infectious respiratory diseases: application of a skill-based measure.
abstract: This study aimed to explain the relationships among health literacy, health behavior, and health status, using a newly developed skills-based measure of health literacy regarding respiratory infectious diseases. This instrument was designed to measure individuals' reading, understanding, and calculating ability, as well as their oral communication and Internet-based information-seeking abilities. A pilot survey was conducted with 489 residents in Beijing, China, to test the reliability and validity of the new measure. Next, a larger study with 3,222 residents in three cities with multistage stratified cluster sampling was implemented to validate a latent variable model (goodness of fit index=0.918, root mean square residual=0.076). In this model higher educational attainment (β=0.356) and more health knowledge (β=0.306) were positively and directly associated with greater health literacy skill, while age was negatively associated with it (β=-0.341). Age (β=0.201) and health knowledge (β=0.246) had positive and direct relationship with health behavior, which was, in turn, positively associated with health status (β=0.209). The results illustrate the complex relationships among these constructs and should be considered when developing respiratory intervention strategies to promote health behavior and health status.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Social Medicine and Health Education, School of Public Health , Peking University , Beijing , People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Xinying
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Shuaishuai
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Edwin B
authors.initials: EB
authors.lastname: Fisher
authors.forename: Yuhui
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yanling
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Qingqi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Zeng
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ji
authors.forename: Chun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Weijing
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Du
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003142:Communication; D032882:Comprehension; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D057226:Information Seeking Behavior; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics; D008875:Middle Aged; D011932:Reading; D012141:Respiratory Tract Infections / Q000453:epidemiology*; D055815:Young Adult