Assessment of knowledge of metabolic syndrome and health literacy level among adults in Western Turkey

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BACKGROUND: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) has become an issue in the public health discipline. AIMS: The primary aim of this study is to assess the potential determinants for both knowledge level of metabolic syndrome and health literacy (HL) level among the adult population. The second purpose of this study is to show whether there is a relationship between the MetS knowledge level and the HL level in western Turkey. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted between October 10, 2017 and November 15, 2017 in western Turkey. The participants of the study were adult population who applied to seven "family health centers". The MetS knowledge level was measured with the Metabolic Syndrome Knowledge Level Scale (MetS-KS). HL level was measured with the HLS-EU-Q16. A General Linear Model was constructed to evaluate the relationship between MetS-KS scores and HLS-EU-Q16 scores. For statistical significance, P < 0.05 was accepted. RESULTS: Younger age, having higher education level, being single, having a high family income, not having a chronic disease, doing regular physical activity, viewing television less than 3 hours a day, previous measurement of waist circumference, previous attempts to lose weight, not being abdominally obese, not being at risk for hypertension and not having optimal body mass index (BMI) were associated with high HL levels (P < 0.05 for each one). According to the general linear model, the level of HL was not related to the level of MetS knowledge level (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Younger age, having a high educational level, high socioeconomic level and positive health behaviors were related with both MetS knowledge level and HL level. However, there was no direct relationship between MetS knowledge level and HL level.