Table 4.
Relationship of health literacy level and health practices.
| Total | Inadequate HL (N = 166; 51.6%) | Problematic HL (N = 83; 25.8%) | Sufficient HL (N = 73; 22.7%) | Significance(a) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HELP SEEKING BEHAVIOR | |||||
| Where to go in case of sickness (%) (N = 322)_doctor/health center (D)_traditional treatment (T)_mullah (M)_local expert (LE) | D: 74.2 T: 21.7 M: 3.4 LE: 0.6 | D: 69.3 T: 24.1 M: 6.0 LE: 0.6 | D: 81.9 T: 16.9 M: 1.2 LE: 0.0 | D: 76.7 T: 21.9 M: 0.0 LE: 1.4 | ns |
| Where to take an unconscious woman when she is pregnant (%) | |||||
| (N = 322)_doctor/health center (D)_local nurse (LN)_mullah (M) | D: 87.6 LN: 4.7 M: 7.8 | D: 81.3 LN: 4.8 M: 13.9 | D: 94.0 LN: 3.6 M: 2.4 | D: 94.5 LN: 5.5 M: 0.0 | χ2 (4) =18.506, p < 0.001 |
| REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH—PREVENTION | |||||
| Having info on how to prevent unplanned pregnancy (“Yes”) (%) (N = 268) | 34.7 (CI: 28.97–40.44) | 28.3 | 33.3 | 60.5 | rpb =0.128, p = 0.037 |
| Using contraceptives (“Yes”) (%) (N = 268) | 29.1 (CI: 23.63–34.58) | 25.2 | 25.8 | 48.8 | ns |
| Use of contraceptives perceived as a sin (“Yes”) (%) (N = 322) | 45.03 (CI: 39.57–50.49) | 62.7 | 31.3 | 20.5 | rpb = −0.366, p < 0.001 |
| Being aware of complexity of pregnancy (“Yes”) (%) (N = 268) | 19 (CI: 15–24) | 10.1 | 24.2 | 46.5 | rpb = 0.303, p < 0.001 |
| PREGNANCY PERIOD | |||||
| Number of pregnancies (Nr.) (N = 322) | 3.45 (R: 0–16) | 4.92 (R: 0–16) | 2.47 (R: 0–11) | 1.21 (R: 0–6) | r = −0.474, p < 0.001 |
| Doctor visits during pregnancy (“Yes”) (%) (N = 268) | 51.5 (CI: 45–58) | 37.7 | 63.6 | 83.7 | rpb = 0.296, p < 0.001 |
| Number of Doctor visits (Nr.) (N = 246) | 2.91 (R: 0–15) | 1.99 (R: 0–9) | 4.00 (R: 0–15) | 4.82 (R: 0–9) | r = 0.380, p < 0.001 |
| Child born in health center (‘Yes') (%) (N = 246) | 51.2 (CI: 45–58) | 38.3 | 60.3 | 87.2 | rpb = 0.375, p < 0.001 |
| Number of children born in health center (Nr.) (N = 246) | 1.2 (R: 0–8) | 1.06 (R: 0–8) | 1.36 (R: 0–5) | 1.49 (R: 0–5) | r = 0.210, p < 0.001 |
| FEEDING THE CHILD | |||||
| Importance of breastfeeding | |||||
| (very/important) (%) (N = 322) | 91.4 | 92.8 | 98.8 | 98.6 | r = 0.184, p < 0.001 |
| First breastfeeding after birth in | |||||
| hours (N = 267) | 17.36 (R: 0–73) | 22.52 (R: 0–73) | 11.3 (R: 0–73) | 7.86 (R: 0–73) | r = −0.358, p < 0.001 |
| Breastfeeding is the first nutrition | |||||
| given to a newborn (%) (N = 268) | 70.5 | 63.5 | 74.2 | 90.7 | r =0.167, p < 0.001 |
| NUTRITION | |||||
| Vegetable consumption (%) (N = 322) | |||||
| _daily (D)_weekly (W)_monthly (M)_seasonally (S)_not consuming (N) | D: 18.3 W: 9.0 M: 8.4 S: 50.0 N: 14.3 | D: 12.0 W: 5.4 M: 7.2 S: 55.4 N: 19.9 | D: 22.9 W: 12.0 M: 4.8 S: 53.0 N: 7.2 | D: 27.4 W: 13.7 M: 15.1 S: 34.2 N: 9.6 | χ2 (8) = 30.617, p < 0.001 |
| Fruit consumption (%) (N = 322) | |||||
| _daily (D)_weekly (W)_seasonally (S)_not consuming (N) | D: 14.1 W: 10.1 S: 63.6 N: 12.1 | D: 7.0 W: 6.3 S: 69.6 N: 17.1 | D: 15.8 W: 9.2 S: 69.7 N: 5.3 | D: 30.2 W: 20.6 S: 41.3 N: 7.9 | χ2 (6) = 39.90, p < 0.001 |
CI, Confidence Interval; M, Mean; N, absolute Numbers of respondents; Nr, Number stated by the respondents; ns, not significant; R, range; r, correlation coefficient; rpb, point–biserial correlation coefficient.
(a)
Statistical significance was calculated in three ways. For variables with multiple responses, the chi–square was calculated. For variables with “Yes" vs. no or numerical responses, the variable was correlated with the interval–scaled sum score of HL.