A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF HEALTH LITERACY ON OPISTHORCHIASIS PREVENTION IN LOW AND HIGH PREVALENCE AREA; HEALTH REGION 7

Abstract

This research was a cross-sectional analytical study with the purpose of conducting
a comparative study on health literacy regarding opisthorchiasis prevention in low and high prevalence areas within health region 7. The total number of participants determined through sampling calculations was 1,132 people, divided equally between the low prevalence area (566) and the high prevalence area (566). Interview data were collected using a questionnaire, and the analysis was conducted using descriptive statistics and the chi-square test. The results indicated that in both low and high prevalence areas, the majority of participants were female, with percentages of 75.80% and 71.20%, respectively. The mean age of participants in the low prevalence area was 55.24 years (S.D.=9.49), while in the high prevalence area, it was 55.61 years (S.D.=10.43). Furthermore, a significant portion of the participants had completed only elementary school education, with rates of 60.78% in the low prevalence area and 57.07% in the high prevalence area. Regarding health literacy on opisthorchiasis prevention, it was found to be at a low level in both the low prevalence area (52.83%) and the high prevalence area (62.01%). Importantly, there was a significant difference in health literacy on opisthorchiasis prevention between the low and high prevalence areas (p-value =0.007). Therefore, it is recommended that public health departments and healthcare providers establish appropriate health literacy programs for the public, integrate them into policy development, and focus on promoting health literacy in all aspects that align with community lifestyles. Additionally, regular evaluation and continuous monitoring are essential to enable the community to build strong and sustainable opisthorchiasis prevention capabilities.