ABSTRACT
Introduction: The aim of this study was to evaluate the behaviors of patients applying to the outpatient triage of a university hospital during the restriction period and normalization process and to use health institutions and to examine the relationship of these behaviors with health literacy. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional analytical study, 116 patients who applied to the outpatient triage of a university hospital between August and September 2020, who did not have communication problems at age 18 and over and who agreed to participate in the study, formed the research group. Participants were given the "Health Institution Usage Characteristics Survey" and the "Turkish Health Literacy Scale (TSOY-32)" for the evaluation of health literacy in order to determine the characteristics of the use of health institutions. Descriptive statistics included numbers, percentages, averages, standard deviations, lowest and highest values. In cases where the two groups were compared, T-test in independent groups in parametric conditions, Mann-Whitney U test in non-parametric conditions, Oneway ANOVA test in parametric conditions, Kruskal Wallis test in non-parametric conditions were applied. The McNemar Bowker test was used to evaluate dependent groups with multiple categorical variables. p< 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The overall TSOY-32 index score average of the research group was 33.38 +/- 8.38 (lowest 14.58, highest 50.00). Of the participants, 20.7% were inadequate, 31.0% had limited-problem, 31.0% were adequate and 17.2% had excellent health literacy. The average TSOY-32 index score of the participants who stated that the current application complaint started during the epidemic restrictions and postponed their application was found to be significantly higher than those who stated that the application complaint was an emergency and those who indicated that it was a chronic condition (respectively p= 0.024, p= 0.043 and p= 0.024). Conclusion: In this study, it was concluded that people with high levels of health literacy were less likely to apply to health institutions. Low health literacy can lead to increased unnecessary hospital admissions, failure to observe preventive measures, lack of contact and further spread of the disease. The importance of health literacy should be taken into account in order to combat the pandemic and the aim should be to raise the level of health literacy.