Health Literacy in Older Adults and Its Related Factors: A Cross-Sectional Study in Southeast Iran

Background: Health literacy can influence physical activity, mortality, self-care behaviors and health outcome for some conditions and diseases especially among the aged population. Objectives: This study aimed to assess health literacy in older adults and its related factors to encourage and inform interventions and the future research outline concerning this group of population in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 older adults in southeast Iran, during year 2015. The twenty health centers were selected randomly and 10 subjects were selected using multistage random sampling from a population from each health center. The Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults Questionnaire was used for collecting the data. The data was analyzed using the Stata.12 software using Independent T test, Chi-square test and multiple linear regression. Results: The mean age of the subjects was 62.1 +/- 3.9 years (ranging from 55 to 75 years old). The total mean score of health literacy was 64.4 +/- 18.4 (range: 12 to 97). The mean score of health literacy amongst males and females was 61.5 +/- 19.9 (range: 12 - 96) and 67.1 +/- 16.6 (range: 22 - 97), respectively (P = 0.032). About 38.5% (n = 77), 29% (n = 58) and 32.5% (n = 65) of the subjects had inadequate, borderline and adequate HL level, respectively. Bivariate analysis and the results of linear regression analysis demonstrated that monthly income (beta = 6.25, 95% CI: 5.03 - 17.27), educational level (beta = 6.61, 95% CI: 1.78-10.3) and husband's educational level (beta = 5.11, 95% CI: 3.2 - 11.21) were significantly associated with health literacy scores level of older adults. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that generally health literacy level is low among older adults in southeast Iran and needs special attention. The level of education was the most important determinant of health literacy. It seems that the best way to increase health literacy among older adults is health literacy training programs that should be implemented with respect to educational level, gender and income of the individuals.