Abstract
BackgroundSocial capital has been linked to health behaviours, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Previous studies have found that health literacy played the role of a mediator in the relationships among social capital, individual physical activity and nutrition. But it is not clear whether eHealth literacy mediates the impact of social capital on health behaviours. Therefore, our research aimed to explore the relationships among social capital (structural and cognitive social capital), eHealth literacy, and the health behaviours of elderly people, and to analyse the mediating effect of eHealth literacy, while providing a theoretical basis for a health behaviour intervention for elderly people.MethodsFrom January to February 2019, we conducted a cross-sectional survey of 1201 Chinese people aged over 60 years using the Chinese Shortened Social Capital Scale (contains two subscales of structural social capital and cognitive social capital), eHealth Literacy Scale, and Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile. We used structural equation modelling to test a hypothetical mediation model.ResultsThe mean scores of social capital was 72.07 (SD = 13.03), 17.24 (SD = 9.34) for eHealth literacy, and 112.23 (SD = 23.25) for health behaviours. Social capital and eHealth literacy were significantly correlated with health behaviours, and social capital and structural social capital were significantly correlated with eHealth literacy. Lastly, eHealth literacy mediated the relationship between structural social capital and health behaviours.ConclusionseHealth literacy was an important mediating factor for elderly people’s structural social capital and health behaviours. Therefore, social capital and eHealth literacy must be considered when designing and implementing health behaviour intervention programmes for elderly people.
Highlights
According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, there were 249 million people aged 60 years and over in China by the end of 2018, which accounted for 17.9% of the total population [1]
The structural social capital refers to the precedent, rules and behaviour norms formed by human participation in social life, as well as the role and social network determined by social interaction activities [7]
Based on our cross-sectional study of elderly people in China, which is the first to examine the relationship between their social capital, eHealth literacy, and health behaviours, we proposed the following hypotheses: Hypothesis 1: Social capital will be associated with elderly people’s eHealth literacy
Summary
According to the data of the National Bureau of Statistics of China, there were 249 million people aged 60 years and over in China by the end of 2018, which accounted for 17.9% of the total population [1]. In order to understand and analyse the connotation of social capital and its role in individual life and measure it further, Uphoff considered that it can be divided into structural and cognitive types [7]. In health research, this distinction has been one of the most influential viewpoints and gained currency [8, 9]. Poor social capital may be related to the mortality rate of elderly people due to chronic diseases and suicide [13] It is of great public health significance to study the influence of social capital on health of the elderly people. Our research aimed to explore the relationships among social capital (structural and cognitive social capital), eHealth literacy, and the health behaviours of elderly people, and to analyse the mediating effect of eHealth literacy, while providing a theoretical basis for a health behaviour intervention for elderly people
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