Relationship Between Health Literacy, Reading Comprehension, and Risk for Sexually Transmitted Infections in Young Women

Received 24 July 2009; accepted 9 November 2009. published online 12 January 2010.
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Abstract

We investigated the relationship between health literacy, comprehension of sexually transmitted infection information, and sexual behavior in 127 women aged 16–21 years attending a reproductive health clinic. Women with lower health literacy scores demonstrated lower comprehension of written information related to sexually transmitted infections but did not have greater high-risk sexual behaviors.

Keywords: Sexually transmitted infection, Health literacy, Sexual behavior

a Division of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas

b Center for Health Promotion and Prevention Research, The University of Texas School of Public Health, Houston, Texas

Address correspondence to: Mariam Chacko, M.D., Division of Adolescent Medicine and Sports Medicine, Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, 6621 Fannin Street, CC 1710.00, Houston, TX 77030.

PII: S1054-139X(09)00604-1

doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2009.11.195