Health literacy and factors associated with dengue prevention behaviors among people in Phatthalung Province, Thailand

Background: Dengue fever remains a major public health problem in endemic areas of Thailand. Health literacy may influence dengue prevention behaviors; however, evidence regarding this association remains limited. This study aimed to assess health literacy and identify factors associated with favorable dengue prevention behaviors among people in Phatthalung Province, Thailand. Methods: A total of 420 subjects aged ≥18 years or older from Phatthalung Province, Thailand, were recruited for an analytical cross-sectional study. The structured questionnaire used for data collection contained demographic characteristics, health literacy, and dengue prevention behaviors. The level of health literacy was examined with a 20-item questionnaire developed from the framework of the Thai Department of Disease Control. The behaviors were classified as either favorable or unfavorable based on their score in the Dengue Prevention Scale of 75%. Logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with favorable dengue prevention behaviors. Results: The average overall health literacy score was 78.95 (standard deviation [SD] 9.40). The highest mean score was found for understanding skills (15.95, SD 2.06), and the lowest score for applying skills (15.60, SD 2.31). Favorable dengue prevention behavior showed a significant association with the gender of female participants (adjusted odds ratio [OR] 1.64, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.05–2.55, P = 0.02). In the health literacy domains, access skills were the only ones that were independently associated with the favorable dengue prevention behaviors (adjusted OR 1.22, 95% CI 1.13–1.32, P < 0.001). Conclusion: Access skills were significantly correlated with favorable dengue prevention behaviors, especially with regard to health literacy.