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. 2018 May 15:46:15.
doi: 10.1186/s41182-018-0097-6. eCollection 2018.

Self-reported functional, communicative, and critical health literacy on foodborne diseases in Accra, Ghana

Sangeeta Gupta  1 , Raymond Asare Tutu  2 , John Boateng  3 , Janice Desire Busingye  4 , Sathya Elavarthi  5
Affiliations

Self-reported functional, communicative, and critical health literacy on foodborne diseases in Accra, Ghana

Sangeeta Gupta et al. Trop Med Health. .

Abstract

Background: Although substantial progress has been made in reducing total mortality resulting from foodborne diseases, diarrheal illness are still the second most common illnesses among children. In Ghana, foodborne diseases have consistently been among the top 20 causes of outpatient illness over the last couple of decades. This study, therefore, examines health literacy on foodborne diseases and the relative effects of health literacy on self-rated health.

Methods: Foodborne diseases are major causes of morbidity and mortality globally. A mixed-method approach was used for this study. A survey questionnaire and an in-depth interview guideline were administered to samples of 401 and 30 individuals, respectively. We undertook reliability and validity analyses. ANOVA and chi-square tests were undertaken to assess bivariate association between health literacy and demographic variables as well as health status. Ordinal logistic regression models were used to examine the relative effects of health literacy on self-rated health status controlling for individual characteristics.

Results: The instrument was internally consistent (Cronbach alpha = 0.744) and valid. On health literacy, 40% of the respondents reported not to require help when they are given information on foodborne diseases to read by a doctor, nurse, or pharmacist. Approximately 60% of respondents need help with completing or filling out hospital documents. Educational level was found to be positively related to functional health literacy. Ordinal logit regression models showed that health literacy is a predictor of self-rated health after controlling for demographic variables.

Conclusion: Functional literacy is relatively low in the community. There is a positive association between educational level and functional health literacy. The study has also demonstrated the direct positive relationship between health literacy and health status controlling for covariates. Subsequent studies will need to examine multiple level dimensions of health literacy with direct link between specific foodborne diseases and health literacy.

Keywords: Foodborne diseases; Ghana; Health literacy; Tropical medicine; Urban slums.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.This study’s researchers obtained ethics approval from the Institutional Review Board of Delaware State University, Dover, Delaware, USA. All protocols for the study were assessed and approved. This approval was partially dependent on an approval we acquired from the local authorities in the study site.Through the consent forms, which were signed by the research participants, we obtained permission to publish the findings of the study without individual or personal data identifiers.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

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