Health-related behaviors moderate the association between age and self-reported health literacy among Taiwanese women

Abstract

The role of health-related behaviors in the association between age and health literacy has not been well-elucidated. The present cross-sectional study evaluated the interactions between age and health-related behaviors in 942 women in Taiwan between February and October 2013. Women aged 18-78 years were randomly sampled and recruited from the national administrative system. Self-reported health literacy was measured by the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) in Mandarin, asking about sociodemographics and essential health-related behaviors (watching health-related television, community involvement). The interviews were conducted confidentially by well-trained interviewers after having participants' consent. In multiple linear regression models adjusted for education attainment, self-perceived social status, ability to pay for medication, and health-related behaviors, health literacy was significantly negatively related to age (unstandardized regression coefficient, B = -0.04; 95% confidence interval [CI] = (-0.07; 0.00); p = .03). The lower health literacy among older women was significantly modified by watching health-related television programs (from "rarely/not-at-all", B = -0.08 (-0.12, -0.04), p < .001 to "often"; B = 0.10 (0.07, 0.12); p < .001) and community involvement (from "rarely/not-at-all", B = -0.06 (-0.10, -0.03); p = .001 to "often", B = 0.06 (0.03, 0.08); p < .001). Specific health behaviors were protective of older women's health literacy and likely their health.

Factors Associated with Health Literacy among the Elderly People in Vietnam

“…The positive association suggests that public health interventions implemented in the country are probably effective. One notes that this factor was also found positively significant in other research [7,12,13,26,31].…”

“…A positive association between participating in these activities and HL was therefore expected. Community involvement associated with higher health literacy was also found in Kazakhstan [31] and Taiwan [13].…”

“…Determinants of Health Literacy. The determinants of HL found in the literature are the level of education, which is positively correlated with HL [5], [8][9][10][11], income [5,8,11,12], self-perceived social class belonging [8], and health-related behaviors such as involving in community activities, using the Internet, or watching television [13].…”

People with Suspected COVID-19 Symptoms Were More Likely Depressed and Had Lower Health-Related Quality of Life: The Potential Benefit of Health Literacy

“…Therefore, it is critical for the government and the ministry of health to provide accessible platforms with official and reliable information regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, it is suggested that people should enhance their life-long learning behaviors (e.g., watching health-related television programs, reading official websites) to improve individual health literacy [63]. The above may further contribute to preventing and controlling infectious diseases [64,65].…”

How Different Health Literacy Dimensions Influences Health Status and Well-being among Men and Women: The Mediating Role of Health Behaviors

“…In particular, the level of health literacy was usually lower among men than women (for a review, see Davey et al 2015), despite their tendency to over-report the abilities when answering health literacy questions (Lee et al 2013a). Older women were more likely to watch health-related television programs and have social engagement, which may result in higher health literacy and better health (Duong et al 2018). However, how one's sex would moderate the effects of health literacy on health behavior and health status has been relatively unstudied.…”