Determinants of health literacy in the general population: results of the Catalan health survey

Garcia-Codina, Oriol; Juvinyà-Canal, Dolors; Amil-Bujan, Paloma; Bertran-Noguer, Carmen; González-Mestre, María Asunción; Masachs-Fatjo, Eulàlia; Santaeugènia, Sebastià J.; Magrinyà-Rull, Pilar; Saltó-Cerezuela, Esteve

doi:10.1186/s12889-019-7381-1

BMC Public Health

Table 1 Variables analyzed

From: Determinants of health literacy in the general population: results of the Catalan health survey

Variable	Category
Socio-demographic characteristics of study subjects
Gender	Men
Gender	Women
Age	15–44 years
	45–64 years
	65–74 years
	≥75 years
Employment status	Employed
	Unemployed
	Unpaid work
	Retiree/Permanently disabled
	Other
Socioeconomic status^a	High (groups I and II)
	Middle (groups III and IVa)
	Low (groups IVb and V)
Education	Primary or non-regulated education
	Secondary education
	College/University/Post-graduate
Health behavior of study subjects
Smoking	Smoker
	Former smoker
	Non-smoker
Alcohol consumption^b	Non-drinker
	Light drinker
	Heavy drinker
Physical activity^c	Healthy (high and moderate physical activity)
Physical activity^c	Non-healthy (low physical activity)
Health coverage	Only public health coverage
	Public and private health coverage
	Only private health coverage
	No health insurance
Preventive activities^d	Yes
Preventive activities^d	No
Self-medication^e	Yes
Self-medication^e	No
Self-consumption of dietary/ homeopathic products	Yes
Self-consumption of dietary/ homeopathic products	No
Subject-perceived health status
BMI (Kg/m²)	Underweight (< 18,5)
	Normal Weight (≥18,5 a < 25)
	Overweight (≥25 a < 30)
	Obese (≥30)
Perceived general health^f	Good health
Perceived general health^f	Bad health
Visits to the healthcare professional in the last 12 months	Family doctor
	Sexual and reproductive healthcare professional
	Mental health professional
	Other specialists
	Nurse
	Social worker
	Pharmacists and other community health agents
Medical consultation last year (at least once)	Yes
Medical consultation last year (at least once)	No
Self-perceived chronic disorder	Yes
Self-perceived chronic disorder	No
Comorbidities^g	Yes
Comorbidities^g	No
Mental health disorders	Yes
Mental health disorders	No
Physical limitation to perform everyday activities	Yes, severely limited
	Yes, limited but not severely
	Not limited

BMI body mass index
^a Socioeconomic status was determined based on occupation the household head classified according to the Spanish adaptation of the British Registrar General’s classification [26, 27]
^bDrinking behaviour was categorized according to the subject’s alcohol consumption habits as Non-Drinkers (subjects who have not consumed alcohol in the last 12 months), Light Drinkers, and Heavy Drinkers (men who drink more than 28 standard drinks per week, women who drink more than 17 standard drinks per week, or subjects who drink more than five consecutive alcoholic beverages once a month, regardless of sex). (In Spain, one standard drink contains 10 g of ethanol.) [28]
^cPhysical activity was categorized as Healthy and Unhealthy according to an adaptation of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) short form [25, 29]
^dPreventive activities included regular monitoring of cholesterol level and regular monitoring of blood pressure
^eSelf-medication was assessed as the intake of prescription and over-the-counter medications during the last two days
^fSelf-perceived health was assessed by asking subjects to rate their health. Responses “excellent”, “very good” and “good” were categorized as Good Health, while “mediocre” and “poor” were categorized as Poor Health
^gi.e. mental disorders, diabetes, respiratory and cardiovascular problems

Back to article page

ISSN: 1471-2458

Contact us

Submission enquiries: bmcpublichealth@biomedcentral.com
General enquiries: ORSupport@springernature.com