Current Status and Associated Factors of Health Information Literacy Among the Community Elderly in Central China in the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Purpose COVID-19 posed a threat to the public’s physical and mental health, and under outbreak control, the opportunities to go outside of the elderly have been reduced and making it more difficult to access health information and detrimental to their health management. This study aims to assess the current status of health information literacy (HIL) among older adults in the community in the context of COVID-19 and to identify its associated factors. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted from April to July, 2021, for which 617 community elderly members were recruited in Chenzhou, China. Data were collected through a general information questionnaire, The Chinese residents’ HIL self-rated scale and a reliability evaluation form. Results The average score of HIL was 75.87 ± 9.85, and after processed by the 100-point system, we found 84.12% (519/617) of the participants scored less than 60 points, which indicates that the overall level of HIL among the community elderly is low. Multiple linear regression showed that age, gender, education, annual family Income, living arrangement, and chronic disease status (β = –0.341, –0.296, 0.384, 0.327, 0.296, 0.356, respectively; all P < 0.001) were significantly associated with the level of HIL found among the community elderly, out of which education was the most important associated factor. Conclusion The overall HIL level among the community elderly was low in Central China during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results further prove the need for tailor-made health education programs for this group, with particular attention paid to the low-educated and low-income among them. Those measures must highlight on three aspects of health information search, evaluation, and application skills to offer useful experiences that improve the HIL level of the elderly and strengthen their ability to cope with emerging public health events.

Relationship between Dietary Behaviours and Health Literacy among Elderly Population of Pokhara Metropolitan of Nepal

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Health literacy and its associated factors among the population in two schistosomiasis-endemic villages in Jiangxi Province, China

“…[ 22 ] The decrease in prevalence might be a result of health knowledge dissemination and health behavior education regarding COVID-19 in the last 2 years. [ 23 ] However, compared with the national average of 78.99% reported in 2020 and other developed areas, such as 80.7% in Wuhan City, Hubei Province reported in 2018, [ 24 ] and 72% in Beijing reported in 2015, [ 25 ] there is still a large gap. The difference in the prevalence of low health may be due to.…”

Loneliness and depression among community-dwelling older adults in China during the COVID-19 epidemic: The mediating role of social support

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