Reisi Mahnoush, Javadzade Seyed Homamodin, Heydarabadi Akbar Babaei, Mostafavi Firouzeh, Tavassoli Elahe, Sharifirad Gholamreza
Department of Health Education and Health Promotion, School of Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
The Student's Research Committee, Department of Public Health, School of Health, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
J Educ Health Promot. 2014 Nov 29;3:119. doi: 10.4103/2277-9531.145925. eCollection 2014.
Health literacy is a measure of individual's ability to read, comprehend, and act on medical instructions. Older adults are one of the most important at risk groups affected by the impact of inadequate health literacy. Health promoting behaviors in older adults have potential impact on their health and quality of life and reduce the costs incurred to health care. Given the paucity of information health literacy and health promoting behavior, the purpose of this study was to examine health literacy level in older adults and the relationship between health literacy and health promoting behaviors.
A cross-sectional survey of 354 older adults was conducted in Isfahan. The method of sampling was clustering. Health literacy was measured using the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA). Data were collected via home interviewing. Health promoting behaviors were measured based on self-reported smoking status, exercise, and consumption of fruit and vegetables. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA and χ2 tests under SPSS 18 software.
The sample group averaged 67 ± 6.97 years in age. Approximately 79.6% of adults were found to have inadequate health literacy. They tended to be older, have fewer years of schooling, lower household income, and being female Individuals with inadequate health literacy were more likely to report limitations in activity and lower consumption of fruit and vegetables (P < 0.001). No significant association was found between health literacy and smoking status.
Considering high prevalence of inadequate health literacy among older adults, and its inverse relationship with some health promoting behaviors. Simple educational materials and effective interventions for low health literacy people can improve health promotion in society and mitigate the adverse health effects of low health literacy.
健康素养是衡量个人阅读、理解医学指导并据此行动的能力。老年人是受健康素养不足影响的最重要风险群体之一。老年人的健康促进行为对其健康和生活质量具有潜在影响，并可降低医疗保健成本。鉴于健康素养和健康促进行为方面的信息匮乏，本研究旨在调查老年人的健康素养水平以及健康素养与健康促进行为之间的关系。
在伊斯法罕对354名老年人进行了横断面调查。抽样方法为整群抽样。使用成人功能性健康素养测试（TOFHLA）来测量健康素养。通过入户访谈收集数据。根据自我报告的吸烟状况、运动情况以及水果和蔬菜的摄入量来测量健康促进行为。使用SPSS 18软件，通过描述性统计、单因素方差分析和χ²检验对收集到的数据进行分析。
样本组的平均年龄为67±6.97岁。约79.6%的成年人被发现健康素养不足。他们往往年龄更大、受教育年限更少、家庭收入更低，且女性居多。健康素养不足的个体更有可能报告活动受限以及水果和蔬菜摄入量较低（P<0.001）。未发现健康素养与吸烟状况之间存在显著关联。
鉴于老年人健康素养不足的高患病率及其与某些健康促进行为的负相关关系，为健康素养较低的人群提供简单的教育材料和有效的干预措施可以改善社会中的健康促进状况，并减轻健康素养低对健康的不利影响。
