Abstract
Background and Objectives: To investigate the health literacy (HL) among older adults in Taiwan, we referenced an existing integrated model of HL to confirm the influencing factors of HL in older adults. We propose this study to examine the personal, situational, and socioenvironmental factors influencing HL among older adults. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted at a district hospital and affiliated community center in northern Taiwan from August 2016 to May 2017. This study used the Mandarin Chinese version of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (EU-Q47). We designed three models based on the three domains of HL. Model 1 assesses personal factors. Model 2 incorporates situational factors. Model 3 adds the socioenvironmental factor. Results: We recruited 161 participants aged over 65 years. Most adults in this study had limited overall HL. The final regression model revealed that age >85 years, unknown insurance status, and dominant spoken dialect of Hakka or Taiwanese were significantly associated with higher scores of HL. Conclusions: Our study results may help clinicians with early identification of older adults at high risk for poor HL and help health administrators establish geriatric policies and health education plans.
Highlights
Health literacy (HL) has been defined as the set of skills required to obtain, process, and understand basic health information in medical situations [1]
Most assessments of health literacy (HL) focus on access to, understanding of, and use of health information in medical settings and overlook cognitive skills, communication skills, and the ability to analyze the value of messages that may assist in personal health management [5]
The inclusion criteria were (1) age of at least 65 years, (2) no cognitive impairment detected during Mini-Cog instrument screening [16], and (3) ability to communicate and complete a self-administered questionnaire. This self-administered questionnaire consisted of items related to personal, situational, and socioenvironmental factors influencing HL, which included demographic information asked on the Taiwan National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)
Summary
Health literacy (HL) has been defined as the set of skills required to obtain, process, and understand basic health information in medical situations [1]. Most assessments of HL focus on access to, understanding of, and use of health information in medical settings and overlook cognitive skills, communication skills, and the ability to analyze the value of messages that may assist in personal health management [5]. To investigate the health literacy (HL) among older adults in Taiwan, we referenced an existing integrated model of HL to confirm the influencing factors of HL in older adults. We propose this study to examine the personal, situational, and socioenvironmental factors influencing HL among older adults. Conclusions: Our study results may help clinicians with early identification of older adults at high risk for poor HL and help health administrators establish geriatric policies and health education plans
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