Urban environment and health: a cross-sectional multiregional project based on population health surveys in Spain (DAS-EP project) - study protocol.

Introduction: The European Environment Agency estimates that 75% of the European population lives in cities. Despite the many advantages of city life, the risks and challenges to health arising from urbanisation need to be addressed in order to tackle the growing burden of disease and health inequalities in cities. This study, (DAS-EP project), aims to investigate the complex association between the urban environmental exposures (UrbEEs) and health.

Health literacy: association with socioeconomic determinants and the use of health services in Spain.

Background: Health literacy (HL) is the set of social and cognitive skills that determine person's level of motivation and the ability to access, understand and use information to promote and maintain good health. The aim of this study is to assess the level of health literacy, and to analyze its relationship with sociodemographic variables, state of health, and use of health services in the population aged 15 and over in the Valencian Community (Spain).

Methods: Cross-sectional study based on a sample of 5,485 subjects participating in the Health Survey of the Valencia Community.

[Health literacy: psychometric behaviour of the HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire].

Objective: To describe the psychometric properties and the level of understanding of the health literacy questionnaire HLS-EU-Q16 in Spanish, implemented in the Health Survey of the Valencian Region (Spain) of 2016.

Method: Descriptive cross-sectional study to describe understanding, reliability, structure and internal consistency of the questionnaire on a sample of 5485 subjects, aged 15 or over, who participated in the survey.

Results: The percentages of understanding without much difficulty were high.

Contribution of the Economic Crisis to the Risk Increase of Poor Mental Health in a Region of Spain.

Previous research suggests that the economic crisis can affect mental health. The purpose of this study was to analyse the association of risk of poor mental health with various socioeconomic, demographic, health, quality of life, and social support variables; and to evaluate the contribution of socioeconomic variables most affected by the beginning of the economic crisis (employment situation and income) on the changes in the prevalence of the risk of poor mental health between 2005 and 2010. A study of prevalence evolution in adult population residents of the Valencian Community in the Spanish Mediterranean was conducted.