Health & Digital Literacy and Complementary Medicine Attitudes in Rehabilitation Patients

NCT06949345 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: health literacy and CAM
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 211
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This observational study aims to evaluate the relationship between health and digital health literacy and attitudes toward complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in patients visiting a physical medicine and rehabilitation outpatient clinic. Low health literacy may lead patients to try potentially unsafe herbal products influenced by commercial or social media sources. This study highlights the importance of understanding patients' attitudes toward such methods and aims to contribute to the development of educational efforts to improve health literacy. Increasing patients' awareness can support better decision-making, enhance rehabilitation outcomes, and promote the use of evidence-based practices in physical medicine clinics..

Conditions

Health Literacy Level; Digital Health Literacy; Complementary and Alternative Therapies

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (3)

• Complementary, Alternative, Conventional Medicine Attitude Scale (CACMAS)

  The CACMAS is a 27-item scale with three subscales: attitudes toward complementary, alternative, and conventional medicine.The scale uses a 7-point Likert-type rating system, with responses ranging from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 7 (Strongly Agree). Total Score Range: 27 to 189 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate a more positive attitude toward the use of CAM and conventional medical practices.

  Baseline

• Digital Health Literacy Instrument

  The scale consists of 18 items across 6 dimensions: Information Seeking, Evaluation of Reliability, Determining Interest Level, Content Addition, Navigation Skills, and Privacy Protection. Participants rated their experiences on a 4-point Likert scale (1 = Very difficult, 2 = Difficult, 3 = Easy, 4 = Very easy) for the subdimensions of Information Seeking, Evaluation of Reliability, Determining Interest Level, and Content Addition. For Navigation Skills and Privacy Protection, a reverse-coded 4-point Likert scale was used (1 = Never, 2 = Occasionally, 3 = Rarely, 4 = Frequently). The overall and subscale scores ranged from 1 to 4, with scores below 2 indicating low digital health literacy, scores between 2 and 3 indicating moderate digital health literacy, and scores above 3 indicating high digital health literacy.

  Baseline

• Health Literacy Scale

  The HLS-25 is a 25-item instrument adapted into Turkish by Aras and Temel (2017) based on the simplified version of the Health Literacy Survey in Europe (HLS-EU). It consists of four subscales: accessing information (5 items, score range: 5-25), understanding information (7 items, range: 7-35), appraising information (8 items, range: 8-40), and applying information (5 items, range: 5-25). Total Score Range: 25 to 125 Interpretation: Higher scores indicate better health literacy. All items are scored on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = cannot do at all to 5 = no difficulty). There are no reverse-coded items. Lower scores reflect inadequate or problematic health literacy.

  Baseline

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Personal information form

  Baseline

Study Arms (1)

Patients of a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Clinic

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 65 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Probability Sample

Study Population

Adult patients aged 18 to 65 years who are literate and voluntarily applying to the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation outpatient clinic of Karabük Training and Research Hospital. Participants must be able to provide informed consent and complete the required questionnaires.

You may qualify if:

• being aged 18-65
• being literate
• Volunteering to participate

You may not qualify if:

• Patients who are unwilling or unable to cooperate

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Karabuk University: lead

Study Sites (1)

Karabuk Education and Research Hospital

Karabük, Karabük Province, 78050, Turkey (Türkiye)

Location

Related Publications (2)

• Unal Toprak F, Coskun Palaz S, Caglar S. The impact of health literacy levels on women's fear of contracting Covid-19 and their attitudes toward holistic complementary and alternative medicine: Mediation analysis results. Health Care Women Int. 2023 Jul-Sep;44(7-8):869-884. doi: 10.1080/07399332.2022.2070623. Epub 2022 May 26.

  PMID: 35616392 BACKGROUND

• Okawa Y, Ideguchi N, Yamashita H. Relationship between health literacy and attitudes toward acupuncture: A web-based cross-sectional survey with a panel of Japanese residents. PLoS One. 2023 Oct 20;18(10):e0292729. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0292729. eCollection 2023.

  PMID: 37862311 BACKGROUND

Study Officials

• Metehan Yana

  Karabuk University

  STUDY CHAIR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Director, PT, PhD

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: April 22, 2025
• First Posted: April 29, 2025
• Study Start: May 1, 2025
• Primary Completion: July 10, 2025
• Study Completion: July 10, 2025
• Last Updated: July 22, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-04

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

TU (1)