Health literacy of vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany – a cross-sectional study

Health literacy of vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany – a cross-sectional study | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Health literacy of vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany – a cross-sectional study Angela Gerhard, Madeleine Beck, Simone Goedeke-Boch, Karin Kohlstedt, and 2 more This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-7633983/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Evidence indicates that many vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany lack sufficient health literacy. However, strengthening health literacy is particularly important for this group, as these individuals play a key role in conveying health information. The objective of this study is to describe the levels of general and digital health literacy among vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany and to explore possible influencing factors. Methods This exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey among vocational and university students in allied health professions in Germany. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires on general and digital health literacy. The survey was conducted in 12/2022 and included also sociodemographic data and health behavior. Various sociodemographic characteristics were examined for their association with health literacy through regression analyses. Results Data from 655 individuals were included in the analyses. On average, general health literacy was 67.4% (100% = maximum health literacy), with 53.4% participants displaying high general health literacy. The average digital health literacy was 60.9% (44.3% high digital health literacy). The only statistically significant indicator for higher general health literacy was male gender. In contrast, for digital health literacy, male gender, higher self-efficacy, higher alcohol consumption, and older age were associated with higher digital health literacy. Conclusion In this study, vocational and university students in the allied health professions showed higher health literacy levels compared to the general population in Germany. To improve competence, content related to health literacy could be systematically integrated into curricula. Physical Medicine & Rehab health literacy digital health literacy health professional allied health professions cross-sectional study Figures Figure 1 Figure 2 Figure 3 Figure 4 Full Text Additional Declarations The authors declare no competing interests. Supplementary Files Supp1Variables250915.pdf Supplementary material 1: Variables (sociodemographic characteristics, educational situation, health and health-related behavior of the participants) Supp2Additionalcharacteristics250908.pdf Supplementary material 2: Additional information on the characteristics and health behavior of the participants (n = 655) Supp3Federalstates250915.pdf Supplementary material 3: Distribution of participants across the 16 federal states in Germany Supp4FederalstatesHLSQ16Items250908.pdf Supplementary material 4: Response behavior (absolute and percentage) of participants (n = 655) for the 16 individual items of the HLS-EU-Q16-DE (general health literacy) Supp5HLS19DIGIItems250915.pdf Supplementary material 5: Response behavior (absolute and percentage) of participants (n = 600) for the 16 individual items of the HLS19-DIGI-DE (digital health literacy) Cite Share Download PDF Status: Posted Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-7633983","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":516163230,"identity":"cdd04339-ed62-4f29-94fe-d5a6648c0007","order_by":0,"name":"Angela Gerhard","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3813-5907","institution":"HSD Hochschule Döpfer, Department of Health, Cologne, Germany","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Angela","middleName":"","lastName":"Gerhard","suffix":""},{"id":516163231,"identity":"6f9d5077-71d4-44e7-b67e-96e0396d10c3","order_by":1,"name":"Madeleine 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Germany – a cross-sectional study\u003c/p\u003e","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":true,"hideJournal":true,"highlight":"","institution":"HSD Hochschule Döpfer","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":true,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"researchsquare","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":true,"externalIdentity":"","sideBox":"","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"/submission","title":"Research Square","twitterHandle":"researchsquare","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":false,"editorialSystem":"","reportingPortfolio":"","inReviewEnabled":false,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"health literacy, digital health literacy, health professional, allied health professions, cross-sectional study ","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-7633983/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-7633983/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBackground\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEvidence indicates that many vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany lack sufficient health literacy. However, strengthening health literacy is particularly important for this group, as these individuals play a key role in conveying health information. The objective of this study is to describe the levels of general and digital health literacy among vocational and university students in the allied health professions in Germany and to explore possible influencing factors.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMethods\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis exploratory, cross-sectional study was conducted through an online survey among vocational and university students in allied health professions in Germany. Data were collected using standardized questionnaires on general and digital health literacy. The survey was conducted in 12/2022 and included also sociodemographic data and health behavior. 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In contrast, for digital health literacy, male gender, higher self-efficacy, higher alcohol consumption, and older age were associated with higher digital health literacy.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eConclusion\u003c/strong\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn this study, vocational and university students in the allied health professions showed higher health literacy levels compared to the general population in Germany. 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