The Relationship between Health Literacy and Decision Balance with the Stages of Change of Smoking Behavior in Staff Teaching Hospitals of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences in 2016

Abstract

Background: Health literacy can be considered as one of the predictors of initiating, maintaining and stopping smoking. The Trans-theoretical model is one of the most applicable models for the study of behavior change. This study was designed and evaluated to determine the relationship between health literacy and decision making balance with the stages of change in cigarette smoking behaviors of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. Materials and methods: In this correlational descriptive study, a total of 297 employees of the health centers of Tabriz University of Medical Sciences were examined. To collect data, a demographic-social questionnaire, Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire (IHL), decisional balance questionnaires and Prochaska and DiClemente’s Stages of Change Model were used. Besides, SPSS 13 software (significance level = 0.05) was employed in order to analyze the data. Results: Most participants were male, age less than 38 years, the field of occupational health, married, a history of smoking for more than 20 years have in total a high percentage of participants in the pre-contemplation stage and most respondents had adequate health literacy. The results show that participants in the study mentioned the benefits of tobacco consumption more than its benefits. Also, there was a positive and significant relationship between change in behavior with all areas of health literacy (except for the understanding dimension) and total health literacy, and there was a significant positive correlation between the stages of behavior change with the decision-balance score. Discussion: Results show that there is a significant positive relationship between health literacy and behavioral changes as well as between decision making and behavioral stages. Therefore, by promoting health literacy and helping smokers identify and compare the pros and cons of smoking, they have helped to change the behavior of cigarette smoking from the pre-contemplation stage to the action and maintenance stages.