Sociodemographic factors associated with health literacy in a large sample of mothers of newborn children: cross-sectional findings from a birth cohort (KUNO-Kids health study)

Background:

Health literacy can be defined as a person's capabilities to make sound decisions regarding health and determinants of health. It is considered an important public health goal and of particular relevance when people are starting a family. However, health literacy of new mothers has not been studied so far in Germany.

Methods:

Health literacy and various sociodemographic variables were assessed among 2182 mothers of newborns who take part in an ongoing birth cohort study (KUNO-Kids health study). Health literacy was measured by the HLS-EU health care scale (Sørensen, 2013) from which an index (range 0 – 50) was derived with higher values indicating higher health literacy. Sociodemographic variables which were associated with health literacy in univariable linear regression analyses were included in a multivariable regression model.

Results:

Almost 40% of mothers had a limited health literacy level. The mean health literacy index was 35.5 (SD = 2.2). In multivariable regression, higher education was associated with higher health literacy (β= 0.12, p < 0.001) and giving birth for the first time was associated with lower health literacy (β=-0.08, p = 0.001), respectively.

Conclusions:

Albeit the mean level of health literacy was high, there was a substantial amount of mothers experiencing problems in dealing with and navigating through the health care system – this applied above all to first-time mothers and mothers with low education. This findings are important for the design of paediatric health services.