Development and Application of Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Literacy for Women (Preprint)

BACKGROUND Health is the basic condition for economic and social development, and in order to improve the quality of life of the people and make the country rich and strong, the first step is to realize a long and healthy life for the nation. To realize a long and healthy life, improving the health literacy of the nation is the way to go. OBJECTIVE To construct the core knowledge entries of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) health literacy for women and apply them to provide a scientific basis for the development of TCM health literacy in women. METHODS Taking the core knowledge entries of women's health literacy as the research object, combining with the methods of field visits and questionnaires, we investigated the cognitive level of women's health literacy of traditional Chinese medicine and the current situation of medical staff's propaganda and education. We systematically sorted through TCM gynecology ancient books, health literacy-related literature, and policy documents, and constructed a framework for the core knowledge entries of women's TCM health literacy. Through expert consensus meetings and Delphi expert consultations, the core knowledge entries of women's TCM health literacy was finally formulated and underwent preliminary population pilot promotion and feedback. RESULTS The core knowledge entries of women's TCM health literacy were ultimately determined, including 3 first-level knowledge entries, 18 second-level knowledge entries, 82 third-level knowledge entries, and 4 fourth-level knowledge entries. After promotion, the results of the examination of women's TCM health literacy showed that women's TCM health literacy was generally high, with 94.18% (97/103) of women possessing TCM health literacy. Among them, women with high TCM health literacy accounted for 63.11% (65/103), and the learning effect was significant. More than 91% (94/103) of the respondents were satisfied with the knowledge entries of women's TCM health literacy, and more than 93% (96/103) of the respondents believed that the knowledge entries were helpful. CONCLUSIONS Constructing the core knowledge entries and main contents of women's TCM health literacy and promoting and applying them is conducive to improving women's TCM health literacy.