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BMC Women's Health
Published in: BMC Women's Health 1/2018

Open Access 01-07-2018 | Research

Improvement of health literacy and intervention measurements among low socio-economic status women: findings from the MyBFF@home study

Authors: Siew Man Cheong, Noor Safiza Mohamad Nor, Mohamad Hasnan Ahmad, Mala Manickam, Rashidah Ambak, Siti Nurbaya Shahrir, Tahir Aris

Published in: BMC Women's Health | Special Issue 1/2018

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Abstract

Background

Health literacy (HL) consists of different components and associates with several health outcomes, including obesity. It is linked to an individual’s knowledge, motivation, competencies, behavior, and application to everyday life. The present study aimed to determine the change of HL scores and to investigate the difference of intervention outcomes at the weight loss (WL) intervention and WL maintenance phase between the HL groups.

Methods

A total of 322 participants from the MyBFF@home study completed the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) test at baseline. However, only data from 209 participants who completed the NVS test from baseline to WL intervention were used to determine the HL groups. Change of the NVS scores from baseline to WL intervention phase was categorized into two groups: those with HL improvement (increased 0.1 score and above) and those without HL improvement (no change or decreased 0.1 score and more). Independent variables in this study were change of energy intake, nutrient intake, physical activity, anthropometry measurements, and body composition measurements between baseline and WL intervention as well as between WL intervention and WL maintenance. An Independent sample t-test was used in the statistical analysis.

Results

In general, both intervention and control participants have low HL. The study revealed that the intervention group increased the NVS mean score from baseline (1.19 scores) to the end of the WL maintenance phase (1.51 scores) compared to the control group. There was no significant difference in sociodemographic characteristics between the group with HL improvement and the group without HL improvement at baseline. Most of the dietary intake measurements at WL intervention were significantly different between the two HL groups among intervention participants. Physical activity and body composition did not differ significantly between the two HL groups among both intervention and control groups.

Conclusion

There was an improvement of HL during the WL intervention and WL maintenance phase in intervention participants compared to control participants. HL shows positive impacts on dietary intake behavior among intervention participants. New research is suggested to explore the relationship between HL and weight loss behaviors in future obesity intervention studies.
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Metadata
Title
Improvement of health literacy and intervention measurements among low socio-economic status women: findings from the MyBFF@home study
Authors
Siew Man Cheong
Noor Safiza Mohamad Nor
Mohamad Hasnan Ahmad
Mala Manickam
Rashidah Ambak
Siti Nurbaya Shahrir
Tahir Aris
Publication date
01-07-2018
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Women's Health / Issue Special Issue 1/2018
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6874
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/s12905-018-0596-y

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