Cross-sectional analysis evaluates health literacy's impact on health behaviors in Korean adults, suggesting important implications for public health strategies.
Key Points
The study investigates the relationship between health literacy and major health behaviors in Korean adults.
Cross-sectional analysis using the 2023–2024 Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.
Included 11,555 adults with complete health literacy responses categorized into quartiles.
Evaluated current smoking, high-risk drinking, insufficient physical activity, and non-participation in health screening using multivariable complex-sample logistic regression.
Lower health literacy was linked to higher prevalence of current smoking (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.44–2.32).
Participants with lower health literacy showed increased odds of insufficient physical activity (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.26–1.74).
Not participating in health screenings correlated with lower health literacy (OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.16–1.65).