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Health Literacy as a Shared Capacity: Does the Health Literacy of a Country Influence the Health Disparities among Immigrants?

Author

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  • Chiara Lorini

    (Department of Health Science, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy)

  • Saverio Caini

    (Institute for Cancer Research, Prevention and Clinical Network (ISPRO), 50139 Florence, Italy)

  • Francesca Ierardi

    (Quality and Equity Unit, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, 50141 Florence, Italy)

  • Letizia Bachini

    (Quality and Equity Unit, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, 50141 Florence, Italy)

  • Fabrizio Gemmi

    (Quality and Equity Unit, Regional Health Agency of Tuscany, 50141 Florence, Italy)

  • Guglielmo Bonaccorsi

    (Department of Health Science, University of Florence, 50134 Florence, Italy)

Abstract

Health literacy (HL) is an individual ability as well as a distributed resource available within an individual’s social network. We performed an explorative study assessing the role of HL as the country-level ecological variable in predicting the health disparities among immigrants. Country-level HL data were obtained from the publicly available first European Health Literacy Survey reports. Individual-level data on citizenship, perceived health status, body mass index, smoking habits, physical activity and attendance at breast and cervical cancer screening were extracted from the European Health Interview Survey of Eurostat. Data from both sources were obtained for Austria, Bulgaria, Greece, Poland and Spain. The country-specific odds ratio (OR) for the association between the participants’ citizenship and other individual health-relevant characteristics was pooled into summary OR using random-effects models. Meta-regression was used to explore whether the HL of a country could explain part of the between-countries heterogeneity. Results: For the perceived health status, nutritional status and attendance at cervical cancer screening, the lower was the country-level HL (as ecological variable), the higher were the health inequalities relating to citizenship. The results of our exploratory research suggest that improving the population HL may help mitigate health inequalities between residents and migrants.

Suggested Citation

  • Chiara Lorini & Saverio Caini & Francesca Ierardi & Letizia Bachini & Fabrizio Gemmi & Guglielmo Bonaccorsi, 2020. "Health Literacy as a Shared Capacity: Does the Health Literacy of a Country Influence the Health Disparities among Immigrants?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(4), pages 1-20, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:17:y:2020:i:4:p:1149-:d:319711
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Chiara Lorini & Francesca Ierardi & Letizia Bachini & Martina Donzellini & Fabrizio Gemmi & Guglielmo Bonaccorsi, 2018. "The Antecedents and Consequences of Health Literacy in an Ecological Perspective: Results from an Experimental Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-14, April.
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    Cited by:

    1. Marti Lindsey & Shaw-Ree Chen & Richmond Ben & Melissa Manoogian & Jordan Spradlin, 2021. "Defining Environmental Health Literacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-15, November.
    2. Tetine Sentell & Sandra Vamos & Orkan Okan, 2020. "Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Health Literacy Research Around the World: More Important Than Ever in a Time of COVID-19," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(9), pages 1-13, April.
    3. Esther E. Idehen & Anni Virtanen & Eero Lilja & Tomi-Pekka Tuomainen & Tellervo Korhonen & Päivikki Koponen, 2020. "Cervical Cancer Screening Participation among Women of Russian, Somali, and Kurdish Origin Compared with the General Finnish Population: A Register-Based Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-16, October.
    4. Maria Lopatina & Eva-Maria Berens & Julia Klinger & Diane Levin-Zamir & Uliana Kostareva & Altyn Aringazina & Oxana Drapkina & Jürgen M. Pelikan, 2022. "Adaptation of the Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS 19 -Q) for Russian-Speaking Populations—International Collaboration across Germany, Israel, Kazakhstan, Russia, and the USA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-12, March.
    5. Esther E. Idehen & Anna-Maija Pietilä & Mari Kangasniemi, 2020. "Barriers and Facilitators to Cervical Screening among Migrant Women of African Origin: A Qualitative Study in Finland," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-20, October.
    6. Lilian Krist & Christina Dornquast & Thomas Reinhold & Heiko Becher & Katja Icke & Ina Danquah & Stefan N. Willich & Thomas Keil, 2020. "Physical Activity Trajectories among Persons of Turkish Descent Living in Germany—A Cohort Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-13, August.

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