Susmita Das|Mohammad Nahid Mia|Syed Manzoor Ahmed Hanifi|Sami Hoque|Abbas Bhuiya
Health literacy in a community with low levels of education: findings from Chakaria, a rural area of Bangladesh
International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research|International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research|International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research|International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research|Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies
health literacy hl helps individuals make effective use available health services lowincome countries bangladesh less optimum use services could due low levels hl bangladeshs health service delivery pluralistic mix public private informally trained healthcare providers emphasis hl inadequate thus important assess levels hl service utilization patterns findings study aim bridge knowledge gapthe data study came crosssectional survey carried september 2014 chakaria rural area bangladesh total 1500 respondents randomly selected population 80000 living chakaria study area icddr b international centre diarrhoeal disease research bangladesh hl assessed terms knowledge existing health facilities sources information health care immunization diabetes hypertension descriptive crosstabular analyses carried outchambers rural practitioners allopathic medicine commonly known village doctors mentioned 86 respondents known health service facility area followed two public sector community clinics 546 union health family welfare centres 286 major sources information childhood immunization government health workers almost respondents heard diabetes hypertension 974 954 respectively top three sources information diabetes neighbours 857 followed relatives 279 mbbs bachelor medicine bachelor surgery doctors 204 hypertension sources neighbours 780 followed village doctors 382 mbbs doctors 232 relatives 15 proportions respondents knew diabetes hypertension control measures 409 280 respectively females knew control diabetes 444 366 hypertension 311 242 malesa low level hl terms modern health service facilities diabetes hypertension clearly indicated need systematic hl programme relatively high levels literacy concerning immunization show possible enhance hl areas low levels education systematic awarenessraising programmes could result higher service coverage