Evaluation of health literacy, health status and health services utilization in women in Baluchistan region of Iran

Background and objective: Health literacy is an important factor in the ability of a woman to engage in the activities of health promotion and prevention for herself and her Family. So, the aim of this study was to determine health literacy level and the relationship between health literacy and public health status, as well as health care utilization and health preventive behaviors, in urban women of Baluchistan region. Methods: This was a descriptive-analytical study which was conducted on 247 women aged 18-65 years old. Samples were selected using multi-stage cluster sampling. Information was collected  using a questionnaire consisted of two part including Health Literacy for Iranian Adults and GHQ28 standard questionnaire for assessing  general health status, health care utilization and health preventive behaviors which was completed using home interviewing. Collected data were analyzed using statistical software SPSS 18 and statistical tests: Kruskal-Wallis, Chi-square and Mann whitney. Results: 32.4 % of women had adequate health literacy level, 34.4% had border level and 33.2% had inadequate level. Inadequate health literacy was more frequent among younger household women with less educated and lower income (P