{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,25]],"date-time":"2026-10-25T01:10:49Z","timestamp":1792890649148,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"Public Library of Science (PLoS)","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]],"date-time":"2023-10-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1696982400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["www.plosone.org"],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["PLoS ONE"],"abstract":"<jats:sec id=\"sec001\">\n<jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Parents often must take decisions regarding their children\u2019s health, which requires certain skills and competences. Parental health literacy (HL) is important in establishing positive health-promoting behaviours and better health outcomes to their children. Limited parental HL has been associated with various negative children\u2019s health outcomes. The aim of the study was to explore perceived and functional HL among parents in Cyprus.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec002\">\n<jats:title>Method<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>A cross-sectional study was conducted with a convenience sample of 416 parents of children, aged 6 months to 15 years old, presenting in pediatric outpatient departments across three Cypriot cities. Participants completed the HLS-EU-Q47, a self-reported measure of HL, and the NVS (Newest Vital Sign), a performance-based measure of HL. Associations with socio-demographic characteristics and health behaviors were explored.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec003\">\n<jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Based on suggested ranges, among 416 parents, mostly mothers (83.2%), almost half of parents (42.6%) were classified as having inadequate or problematic perceived HL. Consistently, 62.8% showed high likelihood or significant possibility of limited functional HL, based on the NVS with a mean score of 2.73 out of 6 (SD = 2.02). Nevertheless, no correlation was observed between the two measures of HL. Limited parental perceived HL was statistically significantly associated with lower educational attainment, lower number of children in the family, increased self-assessed health status, and limited exercise habits. Limited parental functional HL was statistically significantly associated with female gender, younger age, lower educational attainment, receiving financial aid, lower family income, and lower alcohol consumption.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>\n<jats:sec id=\"sec004\">\n<jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n<jats:p>Even though there was lack of agreement in the classification according to the HLS-EU-Q47 and the NVS, moderate-to-low levels of perceived HL appear consistent with a performance-based measure of HL. As a high number of parents may face challenges in assessing and applying health information to improve outcomes for their children, with evidence of social gradient, healthcare services should be oriented towards identifying problematic HL while Public Health interventions are needed to enhance parental HL.<\/jats:p>\n<\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0292577","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]],"date-time":"2023-10-11T17:30:29Z","timestamp":1697045429000},"page":"e0292577","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.corrections_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Assessing perceived and functional health literacy among parents in Cyprus: A cross-sectional study"],"prefix":"10.1371","volume":"18","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-4614-2421","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Joanna","family":"Menikou","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Nicos","family":"Middleton","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Evridiki","family":"Papastavrou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Christiana","family":"Nicolaou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"340","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"pone.0292577.ref001","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"218","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1745-7599.2012.00698.x","article-title":"Health literacy: the sixth vital sign","volume":"24","author":"A. 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Harris","year":"2017","journal-title":"Acad Pediatr"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0292577.ref008","first-page":"1388","article-title":"The effect of the health literacy levels of parents on medication errors.","volume":"14","author":"S. Tek","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int J Caring Sci"},{"issue":"12","key":"pone.0292577.ref009","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"910","DOI":"10.1111\/josh.12700","article-title":"Impact of parents\u2019 comprehensive health literacy on BMI in children: a multicenter cross-sectional study in Japan","volume":"88","author":"D. Nakamura","year":"2018","journal-title":"J School Health"},{"key":"pone.0292577.ref010","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"157","DOI":"10.1111\/nhs.12574","article-title":"Child fever management: a comparative study of Australian parents with limited and functional health literacy","volume":"21","author":"M. 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Kobayashi","year":"2016","journal-title":"J Gerontol: Psychol Sci"},{"key":"pone.0292577.ref044","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"856","DOI":"10.1111\/hex.13450","article-title":"Seeking a deeper understanding of \u2018distributed health literacy\u2019: a systematic review.","volume":"25","author":"D.M. Muscat","year":"2022","journal-title":"Health Expect"},{"issue":"2","key":"pone.0292577.ref045","first-page":"e41","article-title":"Health literacy in a social context: review of quantitative evidence","volume":"1","author":"T. Sentell","year":"2017","journal-title":"Health Lit Res Pract"},{"key":"pone.0292577.ref046","volume-title":"Important perinatal health indicators for the years 2015\u20132021.","author":"Health monitoring unit","year":"2023"},{"issue":"786","key":"pone.0292577.ref047","article-title":"Lifestyle habits of adults during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown in Cyprus: evidence from a cross-sectional study","volume":"21","author":"O. Kolokotroni","year":"2021","journal-title":"BMC Public Health"}],"container-title":["PLOS ONE"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0292577","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]],"date-time":"2023-10-11T17:31:02Z","timestamp":1697045462000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/dx.plos.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0292577"}},"subtitle":[],"editor":[{"given":"Iyn-Hyang","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"editor"}]}],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"10","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0292577","relation":{},"ISSN":["1932-6203"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1932-6203","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2023,10,11]]}}}