Health Literacy and Older Adults: A Systematic Review.

The objective of this review was to assess published literature relating to health literacy and older adults. The current review was conducted according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta Analyses. Eight articles met inclusion criteria. All studies were conducted in urban settings in the United States. Study sample size ranged from 33 to 3,000 participants. Two studies evaluated health-related outcomes and reported significant associations between low health literacy and poorer health outcomes. Two other studies investigated the impact of health literacy on medication management, reporting mixed findings. The findings of this review highlight the importance of working to improve health care strategies for older adults with low health literacy and highlight the need for a standardized and validated clinical health literacy screening tool for older adults.