AUTHOR=Ahmed Salma , Kehyayan Vahe , Abdou Mariam , Bougmiza Iheb 

TITLE=Prevalence and determinants of health literacy among the adult population of Qatar

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 11 - 2023

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1278614

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2023.1278614

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Introduction
Health Literacy (HL) is both a direct determinant and a mediator of health outcomes, research on HL prevalence and determinants in terms of its functional, communicative, and critical domains is a dearth in the state of Qatar and regionally. Thus, this study aims to fill the knowledge gap in this area; to estimate the levels of functional, communicative, and critical health literacy among the general adult population, and to identify its determinants in the state of Qatar.
Methods
An analytical cross-sectional study, with a disproportionate stratified random sampling technique, was conducted in 2022. A representative sample of phone numbers was obtained from the Cerner database at Hamad Medical Corporation and approached via well-trained data collectors. A sociodemographic and health-relevant factors questionnaire and the validated All Aspects of Health Literacy scale (AAHLS) were used to collect the data on functional, communicative, and critical HL and their determinants. Descriptive analysis, independent sample t-test, ANOVA, and linear regression were used and yielded the outcomes on HL levels as low, adequate, and high in percentages and the HL determinants.  
Results
A total of 770 participants were included. The study found that 41.5%, 29.3%, and 29.2% of them have adequate, high, and low overall HL levels consecutively. Elderly, arab ethnicity, Qatari, participants’s low level of education, close relatives’ low education level, a lower income, being non-migrant, not living within a family, Last time sought medical care within the last week, and those who don’t know if they have a chronic disease or not have lower overall HL levels compared to the other groups. After linear regression analysis, only the participant’s level of education and “last time sought medical care within last week” variable predict the overall HL score.
Conclusion
Almost half of Qatar’s adult population has an adequate HL level, which is comparable to the levels of HL in other regions despite the limitation in comparison due to variation in context and the HL measurement tools used. The possible determinants are amenable factors to focus on while designing HL interventions and providing healthcare.