Association Between The Female Students' Health Literary, Self-rated Health Status, And Smoking And Alcohol Drinking Behavior In A Higher Vocational College

ObjectiveTo clarify the current state of health literacy (HL) and physical sub-health status, and to examine the relationship between HL level, physical sub-health status, two-week prevalence rate, and smoking and alcohol drinking behavior among female students in a higher vocational college.MethodQuestionnaire survey was conducted among female freshmen and sophomores in a higher vocational college in Fuyang in June 2014. Questionnaires would include information on demographics, HL, physical sub-health status, two-week prevalence status, and smoking and alcohol drinking status. HL and physical sub-health status were assessed with Chinese Adolescent Interactive Health Literacy Questionnaire (CAIHLQ) and Multidimensional Sub-health Questionnaire of Adolescents (MSQA), respectively. EpiData 3.02 software was used to establish a database, and data analysis was made with SPSS 17.0 statistical software. The Chi-square and a one-way analysis of variance were used to assess group differences with respect to their statistical significance. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to examine relations between the HL, physical sub-health status, two-week prevalence rate, and smoking and alcohol drinking behavior.Results A total of 1 400 questionnaires were distributed and 1 354 valid questionnaires were collected in this survey, the effective rate was 96.7%. The mean score of CAIHLQ was 102.26±17.60. Among the six HL subscales, the mean score of physical activity, interpersonal relationship, nutrition, pressure management, spiritual growth, and health consciousness were 13.89±5.07,22.05±3.00,16.03±3.86,21.27±4.8,13.94±3.37 and 15.08±4.16, respectively. There were significant differences on the CAIHLQ score of different parental educational levels, different family economic statuses, different number of friends, different academic record and different physical sub-health statuses(P<0.05). The prevalence of physical sub-health status, physical inactivity, physiological dysfunction, and decline in immunity were 14.1%,6.5%,7.3% and 6.7%, respectively. There were significant differences on the physical sub-health status of singleton or non-singleton, different family economic statuses and different academic record (P<0.05). Data from logistic regression analyses showed that high HL were negatively associated with physical sub-health status (OR=0.239,95%CI:0.146?0.392), physical inactivity (OR=0.161,95%CI:0.074?0.350), physiological dysfunction (OR=0.177,95%CI:0.087?0.358), and decline in immunity (OR=0.365,95%CI: 0.182?0.731). Moreover, High HL were negatively associated with diarrhea status (OR=0.571,95%CI:0.411?0.793), fever status (OR=0.467,95%CI:0.256?0.851), cough status (OR=0.441,95%CI:0.308?0.633), vomiting status (OR=0.288,95%CI: 0.157?0.531) that occurred within two weeks, and alcohol drinking behavior (OR=0.605,95%CI:0.425?0.861).ConclusionFemale students in higher vocational college whose parental educational level is high school or above, family economic status is above average, with a large number of friend, good self-rated academic record and without physical sub-health status scores relatively high in HL. Female students in higher vocational college who are born in single-child families, with poor family economic status and poor self-rated academic record have relatively high prevalence of physical sub-health status. Higher HL may serve as a protective factor for physical sub-health status, two-week diarrhea, fever, cough, vomiting, and alcohol drinking behavior among female students in higher vocational college.