Factors Associated with Limited Level of Health Literacy on Application of Health Information Related to Opioid Use in Kachin State, Myanmar

Authors

  • Ye Htut Oo1, Wongsa Laohasiriwong2

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.37506/ijphrd.v11i3.1579

Keywords:

Opioids, Health Literacy, Males, Kachin, Myanmar.

Abstract

Introduction: Opioid abuse has caused immense suffering for people in Myanmar especially in Kachin
and Shan States. Promoting health literacy relevant to opioid use can lessen those problems but little is
known about opioid literacy level of general population. Thus, objectives of this study were to find out
the prevalence of literacy level on application of health information relevant to opioid use and the factors
affecting the limited level of opioid literacy among adult males in Kachin State, Myanmar.
Method and Materials: A total of 327 adult males in Kachin State who had never used illicit drugs were
selected for this cross-sectional study. A sub-scale of the European Health Literacy Questionnaire, HLSEU-
Q47, was adapted to assess the level of application on opioid-related health information. Data were
collected from July to August 2019 through face to face interview with the participants. Multiple logistic
analysis was performed to find out the association.
Result: 61.47% of the participants had limited level of literacy in terms of application of opioid-related
health information. The findings indicated that not being Bamar (AOR= 3.61, 95% CI = 1.97-6.63, p
<0.001), being unemployed (AOR=2.44, 95% CI= 1.38-4.30, p <0.01) and not having siblings who used
opioids (AOR=2.47, 95% CI= 1.10-5.56, p <0.05) were more likely to have limited level of literacy in terms
of applying opioid-related health information.
Discussion: Socioeconomic and environmental factors had influence on health literacy especially application
of health information relevant to opioid use. It is important to take appropriate measures to improve opioidrelated
health literacy particularly among the vulnerable groups to help prevent them from drug use and its
problems.

Author Biography

  • Ye Htut Oo1, Wongsa Laohasiriwong2

    1Master of Rural Development Management, Faculty of Graduate School, 2Dean of Faculty of Public Health,
    Khon Kaen University, Thailand

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Published

2020-03-26

How to Cite

Factors Associated with Limited Level of Health Literacy on Application of Health Information Related to Opioid Use in Kachin State, Myanmar. (2020). Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development, 11(3), 1207-1212. https://doi.org/10.37506/ijphrd.v11i3.1579