COVID-19 Health Literacy in Rural and Urban Communities in Nigeria: A Key Strategy for Improving the COVID-19 Outbreak Response

Authors

  • Olayinka Stephen Ilesanmi Department of Internal Medicine, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University, North Carolina, USA
  • Aanuoluwapo Adeyimika Afolabi Department of Medicine, University of Ibadan, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.168

Keywords:

COVID-19, Health, Health literacy, Nigeria, Rural health, Urban health

Abstract

Background This study aimed to describe COVID-19 health literacy in urban and rural communities in Nigeria. Methods A descriptive cross-sectional design was used to enroll adults from households in rural and urban communities in Akure, South-west Nigeria. Nine questions were asked on respondents’ health literacy, each arranged on a scale of “1” implying “very difficult” to “7” implying “very easy’. We defined good health literacy as cumulative scores ≥50 points, and poor health literacy as scores 40 years had nearly two times odds of having good COVID-19 health literacy (AOR = 1.640, 95%CI = 0.769-3.495, p = 0.200). In rural communities, people >40 years had nearly four times odds of having good COVID-19 health literacy (AOR = 3.523, 95%CI= 1.420 – 8.742, p = 0.017). Conclusion COVID-19 health education should be integrated into national health programs to address urban-rural differences in COVID-19 health literacy.

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Published

2022-11-02

How to Cite

Ilesanmi, O. S., & Afolabi, A. A. (2022). COVID-19 Health Literacy in Rural and Urban Communities in Nigeria: A Key Strategy for Improving the COVID-19 Outbreak Response. Global Biosecurity, 4(1). https://doi.org/10.31646/gbio.168

Issue

Vol. 4 (2022)

Section

Research Articles

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Copyright (c) 2022 The Author(s)

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Received 2022-07-19
Accepted 2022-08-11
Published 2022-11-02