Health Literacy and Health Perception of Pregnant Women in the Southeast Region of Türkiye: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Background and Objectives: This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between health literacy level and health perception in third-trimester pregnant women and to determine the effect of health literacy on health perception. Materials and Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted in 2024 at Mardin Training and Research Hospital in T & uuml;rkiye. Without selecting a sample, 201 third-trimester pregnant women who applied to obstetrics and gynecology units during the specified period were included in the study. The Personal Information Form, European Health Literacy Scale, and Health Perception Scale were used as data collection tools. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews and analyzed using nonparametric tests. Including the Mann-Whitney U test and Kruskal-Wallis test. Results: 29.3% of the participants had inadequate, 46.2% had problematic, 23.3% had adequate, and only 0.9% had excellent health literacy. There was a significant correlation between health literacy and variables such as education level (p < 0.001), economic status (p = 0.002), housing type (p = 0.018), and reading frequency (p = 0.005). Health perception was generally found to be at a good level and showed significant associations with age at marriage (p = 0.014), economic status (p = 0.007), smoking (p = 0.036), and regular medication use (p = 0.011). However, no statistically significant correlation was found between health literacy and health perception (p = 0.412). Conclusion: The study revealed that most pregnant women had inadequate or problematic health literacy levels, whereas their health perceptions were generally positive. Although both variables were influenced by various demographic and behavioural factors, no statistically significant relationship was found between health literacy and health perception. Reveals the importance of interventions to increase health literacy, especially in pregnant women.