The relationship between the use of blood pressure medication, a low‐sodium diet, and health and nutrition literacy among Community‐dwelling hypertensive Older Adults

Abstract

More than 90 million U.S. adults have low health literacy, which is the ability to obtain and understand health information in order to make appropriate health decisions. Nutrition literacy is a component of health literacy pertaining to nutrition information. Nearly 68 million adults have hypertension, a preventable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and stroke; and persons with limited knowledge and understanding of diet and health concepts such as hypertension, generally have low health literacy and poor medication adherence. Community‐dwelling seniors in Sacramento County completed a modified health and nutrition knowledge survey, and two validated health literacy assessments: 1) the short Test for Functional Health Literacy (s‐ToFHLA) and 2) the Newest Vital Signs (NVS) to measure health or nutrition literacy. The goal was to determine the relationship between health and nutrition ˈknowledgeˈ and ˈliteracyˈ among hypertensive older adults (≥ 65 years). The sample included 69 older adults with an average age of 72 (SD= 7.3), and 26% African American, 9% Hispanic, and 58% White participants. Study findings included a modest correlation between the total literacy score and total knowledge score (r=0.58, p = 0.04), and significantly lower literacy scores for participants on blood pressure medication compared to those who were not (n=27) (95% CI: −83.04, −18.49%, p ≤ 0.01). No significant differences in scores were found for those on a low‐sodium diet compared to those who were not (p= 0.17). Future studies are needed to understand the relationship of health literacy to health outcomes to facilitate the development of tailored, effective interventions for older adults with chronic conditions.*Funding for this study was provided by the UC Davis Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing