Socio-demographic characteristics associated with everyday health information literacy of young men

Introduction. Everyday health information literacy refers to the competencies needed to find relevant information, evaluate its reliability, and use it to make decisions concerning health in everyday life. More evidence is needed of the determinants of health information literacy to better understand how it is acquired and through which mechanisms it influences health. This study seeks to examine the associations between socio-demographic variables and everyday health information literacy among young men. Method. The empirical data were collected using a questionnaire survey (n=630) conducted at the Finnish Defence Forces call-ups in September 2012. Analysis. Statistical analyses included cross-tabulation with Pearson's chi squared test and multivariate logistic regression analysis. Results. Among young Finnish men, compulsory or vocational education, father's manual labour occupation, and mother's associate professional occupation decreased the odds of having high everyday health information literacy. Conclusions. The study makes a novel contribution to the existing literature by providing information on the everyday health information literacy of young, generally healthy individuals in relation to their socio-demographic background. Future studies are needed to investigate the practices through which everyday health information literacy is acquired in different social contexts during the course of people's lives. Moreover, the associations between perceived everyday health information literacy and directly tested abilities as well as health behaviour and physical health could be investigated. The health information literacy screening tool can be further developed and used as a basis of tailoring and targeting health communication.