Abstract
The elderly are vulnerable to experience health problems and physical deterioration characterized by high rates of chronic diseases among the elderly. Health literacy ability becomes crucial for the elderly with chronic diseases to treat and maintain their health. This study was aimed to describe the literacy levels of the elderly with chronic diseases during the COVID-19 pandemic in Makassar. The method of study was a descriptive survey with a cross-sectional study. The research population is elderly with chronic diseases in Makassar city, and the samples are 124 elderly with age ≥60 years old and suffering chronic diseases more than six months in two selected sub-district. The research was conducted a cross-sectional survey, and descriptive univariate data analysis was used. The instrument was used Indonesia's health literacy short-form survey questionnaire (HLS-EU-SQ10-IDN). The result of this study reveals that the health literacy levels vary: insufficient criteria by 33.99%, problematic criteria by 49.2%, sufficient criteria by 16.1%, and perfect criteria by 0.8%. The results prove that the health literacy level of the elderly with chronic diseases is insufficient. This study concluded that the dominant level of the health literacy of the elderly with chronic diseases is inadequate and problematic. Health education program to improve their literacy is necessarily improved during the COVID-19 outbreak
Highlights
It is predicted that the growth of the elderly group progressively increases all over the world
The results prove that the health literacy level of the elderly with chronic diseases is insufficient
It shows that the total percentages of elderly in Sulawesi Selatan and Makassar are higher than the national percentage by 7.6 %. [4,5]
Summary
It is predicted that the growth of the elderly group progressively increases all over the world. It is predicted that the elderly's total will increase by 56% or 1.4 billion in 2030 [1]. The latest data shows that in 2014 the total number of elderly in Indonesia was 20.24 million, or 8.03% of the whole Indonesian population [3]. The increase of the elderly occurs in Sulawesi Selatan Province and in Makassar City. The data show that the total number of elderly in Sulawesi Selatan was 8.9% in 2015, while the total number of elderly in Makassar was 9.26 of the whole population in 2016. It shows that the total percentages of elderly in Sulawesi Selatan and Makassar are higher than the national percentage by 7.6 %. This high number of elderly indicates that health literacy crucially requires further review
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