Relationship between Health Literacy and Addiction among Women of Reproductive Age Referring to Addiction Treatment Centers in Tehran, Iran

Abstract

Background and Objective: Health literacy can affect individuals’ physical and psychological status and quality of life. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between health literacy and addiction in women of reproductive age referring to addiction treatment centers in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 141 women of reproductive age referring to the addiction treatment centers of Tehran in 2017. The study population was selected through a census sampling method. The data were collected using the Health Literacy for Iranian Adults Questionnaire developed by Montazeri et al. The addiction level in women was determined based on the frequency of drug abuse. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 20) using Pearson correlation test and one-way ANOVA. Results: The mean score of health literacy was 65.11±16.49. Among the dimensions of health literacy, evaluation (31.5%) and conceptualization (17.82%) had the highest and lowest scores, respectively. The results also revealed an indirect relationship between health literacy and addiction rate in women of reproductive age (P<0.05). Conclusion: As the findings indicated, women with a higher level of health literacy had a lower tendency toward addiction. Health literacy seems to be an essential element of health among women and can have a positive impact on their lives.

Keywords

• Drug Addiction
• Health Literacy
• Women