Understanding pregnant women's health literacy strengths and challenges: a cluster-based exploration in the Health Literacy in Pregnancy (HeLP) study

Objectives

Across populations there is frequently wide variation in the strengths and challenges that people experience regarding their health literacy and their digital health literacy. Given these variations, it is important that tailored care strategies are developed. However, there is limited research about the diversity of health literacy strengths and challenges among pregnant women. Thus, the aim of this observational study was to explore the diversity among pregnant women in Denmark.

Study design

This is an observational study, nested in the HeLP cohort and Health Literacy in Pregnancy (HeLP) study.

Methods

Hierarchical cluster analysis was used to explore patterns of strengths and challenges among 681 pregnant Danish women. Health literacy was measured using the 44-item Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ). Digital health literacy was measured using the eHealth Literacy Questionnaire (eHLQ).

Results

Overall, women had average scores above 2.90 for HLQ scales 1 to 5, average scores above 3.70 for HLQ scales 6 to 9, and average scores above 2.80 for the eHLQ. However, cluster analysis-based examination revealed 6 groups of women with large variations in their patterns of health literacy and digital health literacy strengths and challenges. Cluster 1 scored 3.96 on HLQ scale 6: Ability to actively engage with healthcare providers, while cluster 6 scored 2.34 on the same scale. Furthermore, there was considerable diversity in participant characteristics across the groups.

Conclusion

This study highlights that although relatively high health literacy and digital health literacy scores suggest a generally skilled population, averages do not fully capture the disparities present among groups. Study findings offer important insights for designing tailored strategies to improve maternal health outcomes in future studies.