Li Shuqi, Yao Dingming, Hu Xiujing, Chen Heni, Yan Xiaotong, Xu Yue, Zhang Xuehai
School of Public Health, Hangzhou Normal University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Zhejiang Provincial Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China.
Front Public Health. 2025 Mar 25;13:1520668. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1520668. eCollection 2025.
Chronic diseases have emerged as a significant public health challenge owing to the escalating global demographic shift toward an aging population. Middle-aged and older individuals are particularly vulnerable to chronic illnesses owing to physiological and socioeconomic changes. By leveraging health literacy data from the Zhejiang Province, this study aimed to elucidate the correlation between health literacy levels and the prevalence of chronic diseases in this demographic cohort.
In this cross-sectional study, a stratified multistage whole-cluster random sampling method was used to select 12,116 permanent residents aged 45-69 years from 30 monitoring sites in Zhejiang Province from June to November 2023, using the National Health Literacy Monitoring Questionnaire for the Population. Multivariate regression analysis was employed to unravel the correlation between proficiency in health education and the prevention of chronic illnesses.
Sex, age, income, education, self-assessed health status, and smoking status emerged as significant predictors across the different models. Notably, self-assessed health and smoking statuses were identified as confounders that significantly affected the association between health literacy and chronic diseases. Furthermore, this study explored the influence of independent variables on specific chronic diseases, such as hypertension and cerebrovascular disease, with consistent patterns observed across models.
Health literacy is instrumental in thwarting chronic diseases among middle-aged and older individuals. Those with higher levels of health literacy are less likely to suffer from chronic diseases, and high health literacy is a protective factor against hypertension and cerebrovascular disease.
由于全球人口老龄化趋势不断加剧，慢性病已成为一项重大的公共卫生挑战。由于生理和社会经济变化，中老年人尤其容易患慢性病。本研究通过利用浙江省的健康素养数据，旨在阐明该人群队列中健康素养水平与慢性病患病率之间的相关性。
在这项横断面研究中，采用分层多阶段整群随机抽样方法，于2023年6月至11月从浙江省30个监测点选取12116名年龄在45 - 69岁的常住居民，使用全国人口健康素养监测问卷。采用多变量回归分析来揭示健康教育水平与慢性病预防之间的相关性。
性别、年龄、收入、教育程度、自我评估健康状况和吸烟状况在不同模型中均为显著预测因素。值得注意的是，自我评估健康状况和吸烟状况被确定为显著影响健康素养与慢性病之间关联的混杂因素。此外，本研究探讨了自变量对特定慢性病（如高血压和脑血管疾病）的影响，各模型中观察到一致的模式。
健康素养有助于预防中老年人患慢性病。健康素养水平较高的人患慢性病的可能性较小，高健康素养是预防高血压和脑血管疾病的保护因素。
