Health literacy and disparities in COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in Australia
Health literacy and disparities in COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours in Australia
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DOI：
10.17061/phrp30342012
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发表时间：
2020-12-01
影响因子：
4.4
通讯作者：
Wolf, Michael S.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
McCaffery, Kirsten J.;Dodd, Rachael H.;Wolf, Michael S.
目标：探讨澳大利亚人口在 2020 年大流行第 3 阶段限制（“封锁”）期间对 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）健康建议的理解、态度和接受情况的变化。研究设计：全国横断面社区调查。背景：澳大利亚公众。参与者：18 岁以上的成年人（N = 4362）。主要结果指标：与 COVID-19 相关的知识、态度和行为；结果：与健康素养充足的人相比，健康素养不足的人对 COVID-19 症状的了解较差（49% vs 68%；p < 0.001），识别预防感染的行为的能力较差（59% vs 72%；p < 0.001），并且在查找信息和理解有关 COVID-19 的政府信息方面遇到更多困难。健康素养不足的人不太可能认为社交距离很重要（6.1 vs 6.5；p < 0.001），并且自封锁以来记忆和获取药物更加困难（3.6 vs 2.7；p < 0.001）。与健康素养充足的人相比，健康素养较低的人也更有可能认同有关 COVID-19 和疫苗接种（总体而言）的错误信念。在家里主要使用英语以外的语言的人中也观察到了相同的结果。结论：我们的研究结果表明，根据人们的健康素养和语言，与 COVID-19 相关的知识、态度和行为存在重大差异。这些可能会破坏减少病毒传播的努力，并可能导致澳大利亚健康结果的社会不平等。慢性病负担最重的人处境最不利，也最有可能患上严重疾病并死于 COVID-19。在有关 COVID-19 的公共卫生信息中满足社区的健康素养、语言和文化需求现在必须成为澳大利亚的首要任务。
Objectives: To explore the variation in understanding of, attitudes towards, and uptake of, health advice on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during the 2020 pandemic stage 3 restrictions ('lockdown') by health literacy in the Australian population.Study design: National cross-sectional community survey. Setting: Australian general public.Participants: Adults aged over 18 years (N = 4362).Main outcome measures: Knowledge, attitudes and behaviours related to COVID-19; health literacy and sociodemographic factors.Results: People with inadequate health literacy had poorer understanding of COVID-19 symptoms (49% vs 68%; p < 0.001), were less able to identify behaviours to prevent infection (59% vs 72%; p < 0.001), and experienced more difficulty finding information and understanding government messaging about COVID-19 than people with adequate health literacy. People with inadequate health literacy were less likely to rate social distancing as important (6.1 vs 6.5; p < 0.001) and reported more difficulty with remembering and accessing medicines since lockdown (3.6 vs 2.7; p < 0.001). People with lower health literacy were also more likely to endorse misinformed beliefs about COVID-19 and vaccinations (in general) than those with adequate health literacy. The same pattern of results was observed among people who primarily speak a language other than English at home.Conclusion: Our findings show that there are important disparities in COVID-19-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours according to people's health literacy and language. These have the potential to undermine efforts to reduce viral transmission and may lead to social inequalities in health outcomes in Australia. People with the greatest burden of chronic disease are most disadvantaged, and are also most likely to experience severe disease and die from COVID-19. Addressing the health literacy, language and cultural needs of the community in public health messaging about COVID-19 must now be a priority in Australia.