COVID-19-related health literacy, general health literacy, and mental health problems: evidence from a population-based study in Japan.

IF 2.9 3区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine Pub Date : 2026-01-01 DOI:10.1265/ehpm.26-00003

Keiko Murakami, Hideki Hashimoto

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlighted poor health literacy (HL) as an underestimated public health problem. This study aimed to examine whether COVID-19-related HL and general HL were differentially associated with mental health problems.

Methods: A questionnaire survey was conducted among residents of Japanese metropolitan areas during the resurgence phase of the pandemic. Data from 1,482 participants were analyzed. COVID-19-related HL was assessed by participants' perceived difficulty in understanding COVID-19-related information and recommendations. General HL was measured using the Communicative and Critical Health Literacy scale. Mental health outcomes included psychological distress, mood and anxiety disorders, and COVID-19-related anxiety. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) per one-standard deviation increase in each HL measure, adjusting for age, sex, education, income, work status, self-rated health, and the other HL measure.

Results: The correlation coefficient between the two HL measures was 0.195. Higher COVID-19-related HL was associated with decreased risks of mental health problems; the ORs were 0.70 (95% CI, 0.62-0.78) for psychological distress, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.66-0.88) for mood and anxiety disorders, and 0.66 (95% CI, 0.53-0.81) for COVID-19-related anxiety. General HL was not associated with mental health problems; the corresponding ORs were 0.95 (95% CI, 0.85-1.06), 0.90 (95% CI, 0.79-1.03), and 1.11 (95% CI, 0.90-1.36), respectively.

Conclusions: Higher COVID-19-related HL, but not general HL, was associated with decreased risks of mental health problems.

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与covid -19相关的卫生素养、一般卫生素养和心理健康问题：来自日本一项基于人群的研究的证据

背景：2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行凸显了健康素养低下是一个被低估的公共卫生问题。本研究旨在研究covid -19相关HL和普通HL与心理健康问题是否存在差异。方法：采用问卷调查的方法，对大流行死灰复燃阶段的日本大城市地区居民进行调查。研究人员分析了1482名参与者的数据。通过参与者感知理解covid -19相关信息和建议的难度来评估与covid -19相关的HL。一般HL采用交际和关键健康素养量表进行测量。心理健康结果包括心理困扰、情绪和焦虑障碍以及与covid -19相关的焦虑。在调整年龄、性别、教育程度、收入、工作状态、自评健康状况和其他HL测量指标后，进行多元logistic回归分析，以估计每个HL测量指标每一个标准差增加的优势比（ORs）和95%置信区间（ci）。结果：两项HL指标的相关系数为0.195。与covid -19相关的HL发病率较高与心理健康问题风险降低有关；心理困扰的or为0.70 (95% CI, 0.62-0.78)，情绪和焦虑障碍的or为0.76 (95% CI, 0.66-0.88)， covid -19相关焦虑的or为0.66 （95% CI, 0.53-0.81）。一般HL与心理健康问题无关；相应的or分别为0.95 （95% CI, 0.85-1.06）、0.90 （95% CI, 0.79-1.03）和1.11 （95% CI, 0.90-1.36）。结论：与covid -19相关的HL较高，但与一般HL无关，与心理健康问题风险降低相关。

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来源期刊

Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH -

CiteScore

7.90

自引率

2.10%

发文量

审稿时长

10 weeks

期刊介绍： The official journal of the Japanese Society for Hygiene, Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine (EHPM) brings a comprehensive approach to prevention and environmental health related to medical, biological, molecular biological, genetic, physical, psychosocial, chemical, and other environmental factors. Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine features definitive studies on human health sciences and provides comprehensive and unique information to a worldwide readership.