Health literacy, quality of life and burden of informal caregivers in Portugal

Abstract

determine prevalence and risk of various health behaviours, and to identify protective factors in Irish HE students. Methods: Using an anonymous, repeated measures (annually 2019-2022) cross-sectional student survey of health behaviours (physical activity, mental health and wellbeing, healthy eating, healthy environment, addictive behaviours, and sexual health), data on 4924 participants (2019:N = 1302, 2020:N = 1128, 2021:N = 967, 2022:N = 1527), 58.5% identifying as female (2877), aged [mean(SD)] 21.8 (6.3) years are eligible. Most respondents (60.4%, N = 2539) are undergraduates in first year. Results: Preliminary prevalence data show vaping has risen from 10.8% in 2019 to 17.9% in 2022. Those reporting poor mental health (MHI-5) has also increased from 17.4% in 2019 to 21.5% in 2022. Similarly, happiness declined from 2019 to 2022 (2019, 6.5, (1.92) | 2022, 6.09 (2.00). Further work will aim to calculate prevalence of health indicators (weighted means and 95% CIs) each year; dichotomise variables where necessary and perform logistic regression to determine if health behaviours (i.e., substance use, physical activity etc.) are associated with illness indicators (i.e., GAD, general mental health, BMI, happiness etc.), controlling for gender, economic status, course of study, marital status, sexual orientation, age and underlying health conditions. Conclusions: While the results so far are concerning, they align with existent literature. Outcomes may be of interest to HE health services and policy makers in determining how to optimise the student health. Key messages: The health of students in HE settings is at risk. Emphasis should be placed on factors that enhance the health of students. Abstract citation ID: ckad160.1432 Background: Health literacy (HL) concerns the knowledge and competences of people to meet the complex demands of process of caring. Providing health care to someone can be an extremely demanding task that requires a combination of skills and knowledge. HL can be considered a key factor in promoting the health of both the informal caregiver and the cared person. The aim of this study was to assess the characteristics associated with health literacy among informal caregivers. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey directed to informal caregivers. It was applied the Portuguese version of European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-PT-Q16) and it was calculated a 0-50 Score. Bivariate analyses were performed using one-way ANOVA, independent T-tests, and Pearson´sPearson´Pearson´s correlation, at a 5% significance level in SPSS Õ. Results: In total, 760 informal caregivers were surveyed, mean age 57 years (AE9.9), 92.5% female, 62.6% married or living with a partner, 41,5% higher education, 44.4% works full or part-time, 58.7% receives up to two national minimum wages.