scholarly journals The association of limited health literacy and risk of arterial stiffness in community-dwelling older adults

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 605-611 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazuki Uemura ◽  
Minoru Yamada ◽  
Masafumi Kuzuya ◽  
Hiroshi Okamoto
2014 ◽  
Vol 2014 ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuko Yoshida ◽  
Hajime Iwasa ◽  
Shu Kumagai ◽  
Takao Suzuki ◽  
Hideyo Yoshida

The objectives of this study were to explore how health information sources vary by functional health literacy levels and the relationship between health literacy and health behaviors among the old-old, community-dwelling adults. A cross-sectional study was used. The sample included 620 participants from a rural community in northern Japan. We used structured questionnaires to gather demographic information and assess health-related behaviors, information sources utilized, and functional health literacy. Functional health literacy scores were categorized into three groups, namely, low, middle, and high literacy. Individuals with limited health literacy were more likely to drink less alcohol, were less physically active, had less dietary variety, and had a low rate of medical check-ups. They were also less likely to use printed media, organization or medical procedure, electronic media, and accessed fewer health-related information sources. This study highlights the necessity of information tools that facilitate better access to information among older adults with limited health literacy.


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 67-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Y. M. Leung ◽  
Isaac S. H. Leung ◽  
Justina Y. W. Liu ◽  
Sylvia Ting ◽  
Selina Lo

Background: This study aims to investigate the effect of two interventions (verbal advice and comic books) on health literacy and medication compliance among older adults living in 15 public estates in Hong Kong. Methods: This is a two-phase multi-site quasi-experimental study with a pre-and-post design with four measurement points (T1–T4). In both phases, the two interventions were conducted by trained medical/nursing/pharmacy students. Two home visits were carried out in each phase. After the baseline measurement at Time 1 (T1), students verbally advised the older adult participants on how to read, understand, and interpret information on drug labels and how to store drugs properly. A post-assessment was conducted at T2. One year later, another pre-assessment was conducted at T3, and then students used a comic book to educate the older adults. A post-assessment was carried out at T4 after the use of the comic book. Health literacy was measured using the 24-item Chinese Health Literacy Scale for Chronic Care and medication compliance was measured using the Medication Compliance, Knowledge and Storage scale. Generalised Linear Mixed Models were used. Results: A total of 165 subjects were included. The majority (60.6%) were female, aged from 67 to 96. About half (47.3%) had received no formal education. Controlling for age and cognition, there was a significant increase in health literacy after the use of the comic book (coefficient = 2.742, p = 0.001). There was also a significant improvement in medication compliance (total score) (coefficient = −1.018, p < 0.001), reduced knowledge deficiency (coefficient = −0.236, p < 0.05), and reduced storage problems (coefficient = −0.293, p = 0.001) after using comic books. Conclusion: Comic books are a good strategy to improve the health literacy level and medication compliance of community-dwelling older adults.


Healthcare ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 567
Author(s):  
Akio Goda ◽  
Shin Murata ◽  
Hideki Nakano ◽  
Koji Nonaka ◽  
Hiroaki Iwase ◽  
...  

Few studies have examined the effects of health literacy on people at risk of developing dementia; its effects on the pathogenesis of subjective cognitive decline (SCD) are particularly unclear. This study aimed to clarify the relationship between health literacy and SCD in a population of healthy community-dwelling older adults. SCD status was assessed using the Cognitive Function domain of the Kihon Checklist (KCL-CF). Health literacy, in turn, was evaluated using the Communicative and Critical Health Literacy (CCHL) scale. Global cognitive function and depressive symptoms were evaluated using the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and a five-item version of the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-5), respectively. Participants who were suspected of having SCD were significantly older than their non-SCD peers, and scored significantly worse on the CCHL, MMSE, and GDS-5. In addition, SCD status was found to be associated with CCHL and GDS-5 scores, as well as age, according to a logistic regression analysis. These findings suggest that low health literacy is linked to SCD morbidity in healthy community-dwelling older adults and should prove useful in the planning of dementia prevention and intervention programs for this population.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. e045411
Author(s):  
Wen-Hsuan Hou ◽  
Ken N Kuo ◽  
Mu-Jean Chen ◽  
Yao-Mao Chang ◽  
Han-Wei Tsai ◽  
...  

ObjectiveHealth literacy (HL) is the degree of individuals’ capacity to access, understand, appraise and apply health information and services required to make appropriate health decisions. This study aimed to establish a predictive algorithm for identifying community-dwelling older adults with a high risk of limited HL.DesignA cross-sectional study.SettingFour communities in northern, central and southern Taiwan.ParticipantsA total of 648 older adults were included. Moreover, 85% of the core data set was used to generate the prediction model for the scoring algorithm, and 15% was used to test the fitness of the model.Primary and secondary outcome measuresPearson’s χ2 test and multiple logistic regression were used to identify the significant factors associated with the HL level. An optimal cut-off point for the scoring algorithm was identified on the basis of the maximum sensitivity and specificity.ResultsA total of 350 (54.6%) patients were classified as having limited HL. We identified 24 variables that could significantly differentiate between sufficient and limited HL. Eight factors that could significantly predict limited HL were identified as follows: a socioenvironmental determinant (ie, dominant spoken dialect), a health service use factor (ie, having family doctors), a health cost factor (ie, self-paid vaccination), a heath behaviour factor (ie, searching online health information), two health outcomes (ie, difficulty in performing activities of daily living and requiring assistance while visiting doctors), a participation factor (ie, attending health classes) and an empowerment factor (ie, self-management during illness). The scoring algorithm yielded an area under the curve of 0.71, and an optimal cut-off value of 5 represented moderate sensitivity (62.0%) and satisfactory specificity (76.2%).ConclusionThis simple scoring algorithm can efficiently and effectively identify community-dwelling older adults with a high risk of limited HL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e129-e137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy S. Wells ◽  
Steven R. Rush ◽  
Lorraine D. Nickels ◽  
Lizi Wu ◽  
Gandhi R. Bhattarai ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 23-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tina Razlag Kolar ◽  
Boris Miha Kaučič ◽  
Tamara Štemberger Kolnik

AbstractIntroduction. The level of health literacy tells us how an individual functions within the healthcare system, how well he or she understands the instructions connected to health care, and how he or she looks after own health. However, at the same time, it can be an indicator of how healthy an individual is going to be in the future. In our research we wanted to establish the role of a nurse in improving health literacy among older adults.Method. The research was based on a quantitative research approach, using descriptive method. Data were collected with the interviewing technique. As a measuring instrument, a questionnaire formed on the basis of the review of domestic and foreign, professional and scientific literature, was used. We used a non-random purposive pattern, in which we included 148 older adults aged 65 years and above, who live in different residential environments and do not suffer from dementia. There were 140 correctly completed questionnaires, which represent a 94% realization of the sample. The data were analyzed by statistical program SPSS 22.0.Results. Older adults who took part in the research have achieved limited health literacy in the fields of general health literacy (AV=27.0), healthcare (AV=26.2), disease prevention (AV=28.8) and health promotion (AV=26.6). In the field of nurse counseling they achieved sufficient health literacy (AV=34.6).Discussion and conclusion. Health literacy is one of the factors that significantly affect the quality of life of older adults. We established that older adults who took part in the research have limited health literacy. The nurses can significantly contribute to improving the health literacy of older adults through health-educational work and health promotion. In the future, the role of the nurse in health promotion will have to become more prominent, particularly through their work in reference clinics and reference centers for health promotion.


2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 373-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ariela R Orkaby ◽  
Kathryn L Lunetta ◽  
Fangui J Sun ◽  
Jane A Driver ◽  
Emelia J Benjamin ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Frailty is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Underlying mechanisms to explain the connection between frailty and CVD are unclear. We sought to examine the association between frailty and arterial stiffness, a precursor of hypertension and CVD. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of community-dwelling Framingham Heart Study Offspring and Omni participants ≥60 years of age examined in 2005–2008. Frailty was defined primarily according to the Fried physical phenotype definition, which identifies nonfrail, prefrail, and frail individuals. Arterial stiffness was assessed using carotid–femoral pulse wave velocity (CFPWV). Generalized linear regression was used to examine the association between frailty level and CFPWV (modeled as −1000/CFPWV in msec/m, then transformed back to the original scale, m/s), adjusted for age, sex, cohort, mean arterial pressure, heart rate, height, and smoking. Results Of 2,171 participants (55% women, 91% white), 45% were prefrail and 7% were frail. Mean ages were 67, 70, and 73 years, and adjusted CFPWV least squares means were 10.0 (95% CI, 9.9–10.1), 10.3 (10.2–10.5), and 10.5 m/s (10.1–11.0); p = .0002 for nonfrail, prefrail, and frail groups, respectively. Results were similar using the Rockwood cumulative deficit model of frailty, and in a sensitivity analysis adjusting for prevalent coronary heart disease and diabetes. Conclusions Prefrailty and frailty were associated with higher arterial stiffness in a cohort of community-dwelling older adults. Arterial stiffness may help explain the relationship between frailty and CVD.


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