Health Literacy in The Emergency Department: A Cross-sectional Descriptive Study

Aim: In this study, we aimed to determine the health literacy level of the patients admitted to the emergency department with green triage code and discuss this in the light of current literature. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was performed on 285 subjects attending a tertiary hospital emergency department with green triage codes through convenience sampling method in 2019. Turkey Health Literacy scale-32 was used to collect data. Results: One hundred two participants aged 18-83 years were included in the study. Health literacy indexes of the participants ranged between 11.67 and 48.44 and the mean value was calculated as 30.9 (poor). The Health Literacy index of 59 (57.9%) participants was considered to be poor. Conclusion: In our study, health literacy levels of patients who applied to emergency department with green triage code were found to be poor. More attention to health promotion programs and health education is needed.