Factors of Health Literacy Influencing Secondhand Smoke Prevention Behaviors among Community Public Health Students, Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University

Abstract

Secondhand smoke is a silent threat that severely endangers health, increasing the risk of heart disease, cancer, and respiratory diseases even in non-smokers. Therefore, community public health students must be aware of its dangers and adopt strong self-protection behaviors to serve as role models and promote better health within the community. The objectives of this study were: 1) to examine health literacy regarding secondhand smoke prevention, 2) to study secondhand smoke prevention behaviors, 3) to compare the level of health literacy with secondhand smoke prevention behaviors, and 4) to investigate health literacy factors that can predict the prevention behaviors of students in the Community Public Health program at Rajabhat Maha Sarakham University. This cross-sectional analytic study was conducted on 252 students selected using stratified random sampling. The research instruments consisted of questionnaires that had undergone content validity and reliability testing by Cronbach’s alpha = 0.951. Data analysis were used by descriptive statistics, independent t-test, and stepwise multiple regression analysis.

            The results showed that most community public health students were female 91.7%, aged 22 years 29.0%, and in their fourth year of study 43.2%. The overall health literacy concerning secondhand smoke prevention was at a good level Mean = 3.97, S.D. = 0.58, with cognitive health literacy having the highest mean score Mean = 4.07, S.D. = 0.67. Students' overall secondhand smoke prevention behaviors were at a high level Mean = 4.15, S.D. = 0.63. Furthermore, a significant statistical difference was found in secondhand smoke prevention behaviors among students with different levels of health literacy (p-value < 0.001). Regression analysis revealed that communicative/advocacy health literacy (β = 0.349) and cognitive health literacy (β = 0.209) significantly predicted 24.7% of the variance in secondhand smoke prevention behaviors (R² = 0.247, p < 0.001). The predictive equation was: Secondhand Smoke Prevention Behavior = 2.181 + 0.292 (Communicative/Advocacy Health Literacy) + 0.196 (Cognitive Health Literacy). These findings underscore the importance of enhancing health literacy, particularly communication and advocacy skills, to foster effective secondhand smoke prevention behaviors among future public health professionals.