The impact of health literacy on self-medication: a cross-sectional outpatient study

Although health literacy practices have been increasingly recommended in public health literature, there is a lack of studies that examine the relationships between health literacy and self-medication. BACKGROUND: This research project aims to measure and evaluate the impact of health literacy on self-medication and to achieve a better understating of patients' behaviors. METHODS: A cross-sectional approach was conducted and participants were recruited outpatient clinics through convenience sampling. Health literacy was measured by Single Item Literacy Screener. RESULTS: A total of 194 participants agreed to participate (63.9% were females). The results showed that more than half (57.2%) had adequate health literacy. Almost 30% of the participants were over the age of 50. The prevalence of self-medication was 74.2%. Nearly, two-thirds of the total participants reported self-administration of antibiotics. There was a significant relationship between the overall health literacy level and practice of self-medication. CONCLUSIONS: Improving the health literacy level of the public can reduce inappropriate self-medication, especially the self-medication with antibiotics, which represented a high prevalence situation in our sample. Appropriate reading skills are important for accessing health information, using health care services, and achieving desirable health outcomes.