Determining the intersection of health literacy and healthy lifestyle behaviors: comparative analysis of individuals with and without COVID-19

Investigating whether there is a difference in health literacy and healthy lifestyle behaviors between individuals who have and have not had infection after the COVID-19 outbreak, and also to examine the relationship between health literacy and healthy lifestyle behaviors. Participants were assessed with the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-Q) and the Healthy Lifestyle Profile-II (HPLP-II) scales online via Google Forms using various social media platforms. Also, the individuals’ habits of obtaining health-related knowledge and general health conditions, health-related recourse sources, and the frequency of exercise were also recorded and compared. Three hundred and sixty-seven individuals (64.4% female) participated in the study and analysis of the HLS-EU-Q and HPLP-II Scale results of all participants revealed a positive correlation between two scales (p = .009, r = 0.137). However, no significant difference was found between participants with (Group I, n = 183) and without (Group II, n = 184) COVID-19 infection in terms of HLS-EU-Q and HPLP-II scales (p > .05). It was concluded that the health literacy levels and healthy lifestyle behaviors of individuals who had and did not have COVID-19 infection were similar. However, there was a weak but significant correlation between the level of health literacy and the adoption of healthy lifestyle behaviors.