The Relationship between Health Literacy and Personal Factors of Parents on Particulate Matter with Diameter Less than 2.5 Micrometer Prevention Behaviors among Young Children

Abstract

This research aimed to study personal factors and the level of health literacy among parents in preventing particulate matter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) exposure in young children, and to examine the relationship between personal factors, health literacy, and parents’ behaviors in preventing PM2.5 exposure in young children. The sample consisted of 347 parents. Data were collected using questionnaires. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient, and Chi-square test.

The results revealed that most participants were female (65.77%) with a mean age of 37 years        (S.D. = 9.07). Overall health literacy was at a high level (60.8%). Preventive and monitoring behaviors regarding PM2.5 exposure among young children were also at the high level (76.7%). Factors that showed a strong positive correlation with parents’ PM2.5 preventive behaviors for young children, with statistical significance, included the total health literacy score regarding PM2.5 (r = 0.721). Factors with a low positive correlation included age (r = 0.114) and monthly household income (r = 0.206). Personal factors that were significantly associated with preventive behaviors at the 0.05 level included educational level, occupation, health check-up history, health status of the child, type of residence, and the use of mobile applications for monitoring air quality or dust conditions.

In conclusion, certain personal factors and parents’ health literacy regarding PM2.5 were significantly associated with their behaviors in preventing PM2.5 exposure among young children. This indicates that higher levels of parental health literacy are associated with higher levels of preventive behaviors for young children.