Health literacy of aging community in the northeastern Iran

Abstract

Introduction: In recent years, many studies have reported on the relationship between health literacy and health outcomes such as health status, chronic disease and hospitalization. Considering the increasing number of elderly people, studies need to be done on how to providing services to the elderly, also on recognizing the needs and health indicators of this age group. Therefore, the present study addresses the health literacy index of the elderly in the elderly population of northeastern Iran. Method: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study carried out in 2019. About 190 elderly living in the northeastern Iran were selected by multi-stage (cluster and stratified) sampling method. Data were collected using a two-part questionnaire (demographic information-adult health literacy questionnaire) and analyzed by SPSS-20 software. Results: Most of the elderly studied had an inadequate level of health literacy (40.5%). 23.3% of the elderly had a borderline health literacy level. Only 36.3% of the elderly had adequate health literacy. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the elderly studied are lacking adequate health literacy, which is a serious challenge for health care providers and all providers of health services due to the growing number of elderly population in the country.