Journal of Education And Community Health

Introduction: There is significant relationship between health literacy and smoking status. Due to the increasing prevalence of smoking and a role model for medical students in the country, this study aimed to determine the relationship between health literacy with knowledge and attitudes about the harms of smoking.

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional and correlation study was conducted on 340 dormitory students of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran. Single-stage random cluster sampling method was used and data were collected using questionnaire of HELIA for urban population aged between 18-65 years old and researcher-made questionnaire that measured knowledge and attitudes about smoking and its harms. After data collection, data were entered into the SPSS software version 16. Then this data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test and Pearson correlation coefficient.   

Results: The mean and standard deviation of health literacy score was 70.52 ±14.12 out of 100. The mean and standard deviation of knowledge and attitude scores were 16.65±1.62 and 53.03±10.33, respectively. There were a significant direct relationship between knowledge and attitudes about smoking hazards as well as between health literacy and knowledge and attitudes about smoking hazards (p<0.001).

Conclusion: Regarding the relationship between health literacy with knowledge and attitudes about smoking hazards, should in future studies to investigate the effect of different levels of health literacy to be paid on smoking.