Ackermann Rau, Sabine; Sakarya, Sibel; Abel, Thomas (2014). When to see a doctor for common health problems: distribution patterns of functional health literacy across migrant populations in Switzerland. International journal of public health, 59(6), pp. 967-74. Springer 10.1007/s00038-014-0583-5
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BACKGROUND
Knowing when to seek professional help for health problems is considered an important aspect of health literacy. However, little is known about the distribution of help-seeking knowledge in the general population or specific subpopulations.
METHODS
We analysed data from the "Health Monitoring of the Swiss Migrant Population 2010" and used a short survey tool to study the distribution of help-seeking knowledge. We sampled members of four migrant groups (from Portugal, Turkey, Serbia and Kosovo; n = 2,614). Our tool contained 12 items that addressed common physical and psychological health problems. A total sum score measured help-seeking knowledge. Two sub-scores analysed knowledge related to potential overuse (minor symptoms) or potential underuse (major symptoms). We applied linear regression to show variations in help-seeking knowledge by age, sex, region of origin and length of stay.
RESULTS
Controlling for self-rated health, we found that region of origin, higher education, female gender and younger age were significantly associated with higher knowledge scores.
CONCLUSIONS
We present empirical evidence of unequal distribution of help-seeking knowledge across four migrant populations in Switzerland. Our findings contribute to current conceptual developments in health literacy, and provide starting points for future research.
Item Type: |
Journal Article (Original Article) |
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Division/Institute: |
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM) |
UniBE Contributor: |
Ackermann, Sabine, Abel, Thomas |
Subjects: |
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health 300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services |
ISSN: |
1661-8556 |
Publisher: |
Springer |
Language: |
English |
Submitter: |
Beatrice Minder Wyssmann |
Date Deposited: |
13 Oct 2014 14:26 |
Last Modified: |
05 Dec 2022 14:36 |
Publisher DOI: |
10.1007/s00038-014-0583-5 |
PubMed ID: |
25012800 |
Uncontrolled Keywords: |
Health literacy, Help-seeking knowledge, Migrants’ health, Switzerland |
BORIS DOI: |
10.7892/boris.54655 |
URI: |
https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/54655 |
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