Level of health literacy on cervical cancer and its correlates among women of reproductive age group in an Eastern state of India

Background: Poor health literacy contributes to cervical cancer being the second leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women. This study aimed to assess health literacy levels regarding cervical cancer and identify factors associated with high literacy among reproductive-age women attending the Outpatient Department at a tertiary-care health institution in Patna, Bihar. Materials and methods: This study included 305 married women, selected using judgmental sampling, who had attended the obstetrics and gynaecology department of the study site for at least 6 months. A pre-tested questionnaire for general information and a modified Assessment of Health Literacy on Cervical Cancer (AHL-C) tool were used for data collection. Multivariable binomial logistic regression analysis was done to find out the correlates of health literacy. Results: The level of high health literacy on cervical cancer was 9.20 % [95 % CI: 6.3–13.3]. Occupation and awareness of cervical cancer were independent predictors of high health literacy on the disease. Higher literacy scores were observed among middle-aged women, those with education beyond the 10th grade, employed women, those from Above Poverty Line (APL) families, women aware of cervical cancer and female-specific cancers, and those with a family history of female-specific cancers, compared to their counterparts. Conclusions: Only one in ten women in our study had high health literacy on cervical cancer. It is important to improve the education levels of females, give them job opportunities, and create awareness of cervical cancer to improve health literacy on cervical cancer, thereby reducing the cervical cancer burden in this region of India.