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Individuals’ COVID-19 Awareness and Health Literacy Levels in Eastern Turkey: A Descriptive Correlational Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2025

Merve Meral Okten Open the ORCID record for Merve Meral Okten [Opens in a new window]  and
Hasret Yalcinoz Baysal Open the ORCID record for Hasret Yalcinoz Baysal [Opens in a new window]
Merve Meral Okten
Affiliation:
Atatürk University Health Sciences Institute, Public Health Nursing Department, Erzurum,Turkey
Hasret Yalcinoz Baysal*
Affiliation:
Ataturk Universty, Faculty of Nursing, Public Health Nursing Department, Erzurum, Turkey
*
Corresponding author: Hasret Yalcinoz Baysal; Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]
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Abstract

Objective

Individuals’ COVID-19 protection and awareness could be related to their health literacy levels. This study aims to determine individuals’ COVID-19 awareness and health literacy levels in eastern Turkey and the relationship between them.

Methods

This study utilized a descriptive and correlational design. The target population was individuals aged 18-65 years who sought treatment in the emergency department of a state hospital in Turkey. The sample consisted of 762 individuals who visited the health institution where data were collected between July 15, 2021-December 15, 2021 and agreed to participate in the study. Data were collected through the Personal Information Form, the COVID-19 Awareness Scale, and the Health Literacy Scale. Ethics committee approval and institutional permissions were obtained to conduct the study. Data analysis used arithmetic means, standard deviations, skewness and kurtosis coefficients, t test, ANOVA, Welch ANOVA, Bonferroni tests, and correlation analysis.

Results

The participants’ COVID-19 Awareness Scale total mean score was 50.71 ± 14.93, and the Health Literacy Scale total mean score was 45.03 ± 10.57. A moderate positive correlation was detected between the participants’ health literacy levels and the COVID-19 awareness scale sub-scales and total scores (r = 0.350).

Conclusions

The participants’ health literacy level increased with their COVID-19 awareness level. It is recommended that health literacy levels be increased to help individuals increase their awareness of COVID-19 and to protect and improve their health.

Keywords

attentivenessCOVID-19disasterhealth literacypublic health
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 19 , 2025 , e30
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2025. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc

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