Exploring Health Literacy Profiles of Texas University Students

Objectives: We used the 9-domain Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) to investigate university students' health literacy. Methods: Overall, 221 students at a university in southern Texas completed an online version of the HLQ. Socio-demographic data were collected. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Descriptive analyses of the HLQ showed that women reported higher means for "Appraisal of health information" and "Understanding health information well enough to know what to do" than men. There was a small difference in the scores of persons "15-24 years old" and "25 years or older" regarding "Appraisal of health information." Furthermore, parents' education was associated with some elements of students' self-reported health literacy. That is, the more educated the parents, the higher the levels of health literacy reported by respondents with respect to "Social support for my health." The "above average" socioeconomic group demonstrated the highest scores in all of the significant health literacy domains. Conclusions: This study has revealed some small to medium effect size differences across 9 domains of health literacy. Tertiary education providers could use HLQ as an early intervention tool to improve knowledge, skills, resources, and services that are necessary to create student health and health literate environments.