Previous Issue
Volume 5, September
 
 

Epidemiologia, Volume 5, Issue 4 (December 2024) – 1 article

  • Issues are regarded as officially published after their release is announced to the table of contents alert mailing list.
  • You may sign up for e-mail alerts to receive table of contents of newly released issues.
  • PDF is the official format for papers published in both, html and pdf forms. To view the papers in pdf format, click on the "PDF Full-text" link, and use the free Adobe Reader to open them.
Order results
Result details
Section
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
16 pages, 331 KiB  
Article
Socio-Economic and Health Literacy Inequalities as Determinants of Women’s Knowledge about Their Reproductive System: A Cross-Sectional Study
by Viktória Prémusz, Kálmán András Kovács, Eszter Skriba, Zoltán Tándor, Gábor Szmatona and Olívia Dózsa-Juhász
Epidemiologia 2024, 5(4), 627-642; https://doi.org/10.3390/epidemiologia5040044 - 26 Sep 2024
Abstract
Background/Objectives: To support women’s informed decisions and reproductive self-care, confident reproductive health-related knowledge is needed, supported by adequate health literacy (HL). No corresponding survey has been carried out in Hungary on inequalities to provide information addressing education. Materials and Methods: In the current [...] Read more.
Background/Objectives: To support women’s informed decisions and reproductive self-care, confident reproductive health-related knowledge is needed, supported by adequate health literacy (HL). No corresponding survey has been carried out in Hungary on inequalities to provide information addressing education. Materials and Methods: In the current cross-sectional online survey, 301 women of reproductive age (27.16 ± 0.36 years) were asked with the Hungarian versions of validated and standardised questionnaires about reproductive knowledge on hormones, ovulation, menstrual cycle, pregnancy signs and birth control (Knowledge of Female Body Scale—KFB), and HL (Brief Health Literacy Screening Tool—BRIEF). Spearman correlation and multivariable linear regression analyses were utilised, with a significance level set at p < 0.05. IBM SPSS version 28.0 (IBM SPSS, Armonk, NY, USA: IBM Corp.) and G*Power (version 3.1.9.7; Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf, Düsseldorf, Germany) software. The STROBE checklist was followed. The Clinical Trial Registry Nr. is NCT06146673. Results: The KFB composite score was high (20.01 ± 2.33); 86.374% had “high knowledge”. Still, lacking information was identified for the mechanisms of certain contraceptive methods and early physical signs of pregnancy. A significant difference was also found in the KFB scores in the case of higher age (p = 0.019), higher education level (p = 0.018) and previous live birth (p = 0.028). A positive correlation was found between KFB and HL (p < 0.001), education (p = 0.005), and age (p = 0.021). A multiple regression analysis (R2 = 0.087, p < 0.001) indicated that both HL (p < 0.001) and age (p = 0.003) are potential positive predictors of adequate reproductive knowledge, whereas induced abortion (p = 0.013) might serve as an inverse predictor. Conclusions: Inequalities in women’s knowledge about their reproductive system and HL were found, and it was significantly the lowest in their highest conception probability age. Therefore, in addition to targeted education, HL also needs improvement. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Socio-Economic Inequalities in Health)
Previous Issue
Back to TopTop