The relationship between health literacy and patterns of drug use in pregnancy

Context: Drug use during pregnancy is an important issue that is frequently encountered and difficult to decide on as it is closely related to the health of both the mother and the fetus. Aim: This study was conducted to identify the relationship between the health literacy level and drug use in pregnant women. Settings and Design: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study in a state hospital's outpatient department in Turkey in 2017. Materials and Methods: In this study, 469 pregnant women were included with simple random sampling. The data collection form included sociodemographic characteristics and drug use behavior of pregnant women and the Health Literacy Scale (HLS). Statistical Analysis: Descriptive statistics, t-test, Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, ANOVA, Bonferroni, and multiple regression analysis were used. Results: The mean HLS subdimension scores were access 21.7 +/- 3.4, understanding 28.1 +/- 4.8, appraisal 34.2 +/- 5.0, application 22.5 +/- 2.9, and total score was 106.6 +/- 14.01. We found that 49% of the variance related to the HLS score was associated with using the drugs recommended by the physician regularly (beta = -1.665, P < 0.05) and knowing the foods that should not be consumed with the drugs (beta = -4.024, P < 0.05). Conclusions: The health literacy levels of pregnant women were found to be relatively adequate. The increase in the level of health literacy of pregnant women affects their drug use behavior positively. Therefore, planning for the improvement of pregnant women's health literacy is recommended.