Objective To understand the characteristics of healthcare utilization outcomes among residents, analyze the influence of health literacy on these outcomes, and provide a reference for improving them.

Methods From October 2022 to April 2023, a stratified, multi-stage, random, and convenient sampling method was used to select 6 153 residents aged 15–69 years in Jiangsu province for a questionnaire survey. Latent class analysis and multi-factor logistic regression were used to analyze the influencing factors of different categories of healthcare utilization outcomes.

Results The healthcare utilization outcomes of the surveyed population could be divided into two latent classes: a better outcome group (83.1%) and a worse outcome group (16.9%). Statistically significant differences in healthcare utilization outcomes were observed across different ages, genders, marital statuses, education levels, annual incomes, chronic disease statuses, and health literacy levels (all P < 0.05). Multi-factor logistic regression analysis showed that compared with those with high health literacy, aged 15–24 years, male, and without chronic diseases, the following groups had a higher risk of being in the worse outcome group: those with low health literacy (OR = 1.306, 95%CI: 1.013–1.683); those aged 25–34 years (OR = 1.620, 95%CI: 1.034–2.538), 45–54 years (OR = 1.938, 95%CI: 1.208–3.110), 55–64 years (OR = 2.501, 95%CI: 1.551–4.033), and 65–69 years (OR = 2.926, 95%CI: 1.703–5.027); females (OR = 1.402, 95%CI: 1.201–1.636); and those with chronic diseases (OR = 3.033, 95%CI: 2.612–3.523).

Conclusions High health literacy has a positive impact on residents′ healthcare utilization outcomes, and improving residents′ health literacy is of great significance for improving these outcomes.