Health Literacy in the General Population in Belgium

The degree to which individuals can obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. It also includes the cognitive and social skills which determine the motivation and ability of individuals to gain access to, understand and use information in ways which promote and maintain good health. It is measured by the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) (Osborne et al., 2013), composed of 44 items (9 dimensions).

Measured with the EQ-5D-5L (EuroQol Group, 1990), divided into 2 parts. The first part is composed of 5 items investigating 5 dimensions (mobility, autonomy, daily activities, pain, and anxiety and depression).

Measured with the EQ-5D-5L (EuroQol Group, 1990), divided into 2 parts: the second part is composed of 1 Visual Analogue Scale (VAS, from 0 to 100), investigating the perceived health.

Questions about the presence of chronic illness(es) are asked, along with their duration.

Calculated with the standard formula (weight/height²)

Measured with the Stigma Scale for Chronic Illnesses (Molina et al., 2013), which assesses enacted and internalised stigma. It is composed of 8 items. The responses for each item can be: 1 = Never, 2 = Rarely, 3 = Sometimes, 4 = Often, and 5 = Always. The raw summed score range is 8-40, with a higher score indicating a higher perceived stigma. Raw scores are then transformed into T-scores (a result of rescaling raw scores into standardized scores with a mean of 50 and a standard deviation of 10).

Investigation of the participant's satisfaction about hospitals, dentists, specialised physician, general practitioners, home care and Solidaris, through 6 questions ranging from 1 (very unsatisfied) to 5 (very satisfied).

Tobacco, alcohol, fruits and vegetables consumption are investigated through 5 questions: do you smoke ? / If yes, what do you smoke? / How often do you drink alcohol? / How often do you eat fruits? / How often do you eat vegetables?

Investigated through 2 questions: during the last 7 days, how many days did you practice intense physical activity? / during the last 7 days, how many days did you practice moderate physical activity? For each question, answers range from 0 to 7.

Investigated through 1 question: "how often do you use the Internet to search information about your health?". Answers range from 1 (never) to 5 (always).