Making Europe health literate: including older adults in sparsely populated Arctic areas

Abstract

Background Older people have been identified as having lower health literacy (HL) than the general population average. Living in sparsely populated Arctic regions involves unique health challenges that may influence HL. The research aim was to explore the level of HL, its problematic dimensions, and its association with the selection of contextual factors among older adults living in sparsely populated areas in Northern Iceland. Method This was a cross-sectional study based on a stratified random sample from the national register of one urban town and two rural areas. The study included 175 participants (57.9% participation rate) who were community-dwelling (40% rural) and aged 65–92 years (M 74.2 ± SD 6.3), 43% of whom were women. Data were collected in 2017-2018 via face-to-face interviews, which included the standardised European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire-short version (HLS-EU-Q16) with a score range from 0 to 16 (low-high HL). Results The level of HL ranged from 6–16 (M 13.25, SD ± 2.41) with 65% having sufficient HL (score 13–16), 31.3% problematic HL (score 9–12) and 3.7% inadequate HL (score 0–8). Most problematic dimension of HL was within the domains of disease prevention and health promotion related to information in the media. Univariate linear regression revealed that better HL was associated with more education (p=0.001), more resiliency (p=0.001), driving a car (p=0.006), good access to health care- (p=0.005) and medical service (p=0.027), younger age (p=0.005), adequate income (p=0.044) and less depression (p=0.006). Multivariable analysis showed that more education (p=0.014) and driving a car (p=0.017) were independent predictors of better HL. Conclusion Difficulties in HL concern information in the media. HL was strongly associated with education and driving a car however, not with urban-rural residency. Mobility and access should be considered for improving HL of older people.

Health Literacy among Older Adults in Portugal and Associated Sociodemographic, Health and Healthcare-Related Factors

“…Then, the HLS-EU reported limited health literacy percentages of 58.2% among those aged 65 to 75 years and 60.8% among those older than 75 years, even though a previous and more comprehensive tool for assessing health literacy was used [12]. The proportion of limited general health literacy found among older Portuguese adults is also much higher than those observed in previous research of other elderly populations [27,28] but lower compared to that found in Turkey (85%) [29]. Although a direct comparison between studies can present some limitations, these findings suggest a bigger difficulty for older Portuguese adults in using health information compared to their counterparts.…”

Características associadas à Literacia em saúde e Literacia Digital em saúde em idosos de uma cidade do interior do Paraná

“…Nesse sentido, em um estudo com 134 indivíduos com mais de 65 anos e níveis de escolaridade mais elevados, na região do norte da Islândia, em áreas próximas do círculo Polar Ártico, os pesquisadores não encontraram diferença significativa entre a relação renda e literacia. Somente 35% demonstraram ter problema com a literacia em saúde, ressaltando que quanto maior o grau de escolaridade, maior a renda e, consequentemente, a literacia em saúde (Gustafsdottir et al, 2022). Corroborando com esses achados, em uma pesquisa referente aos fatores que influenciam a literacia em saúde entre os idosos com média de idade de 70,93 anos de uma comunidade do sudoeste da China, em que 67,83% dos participantes tinham apenas o ensino médio ou inferior, constataram que a literacia em saúde digital dos idosos era relativamente baixa (Liu et al, 2022).…”

Basic mobility, accidental falls, and lifetime physical activity among rural and urban community-dwelling older adults: a population-based study in Northern Iceland

“…This cross-sectional study was a part of a larger project on health and well-being of older community-dwelling adults in rural and urban areas in Northern Iceland. Data was collected from September 2017 to January 2018 and a detailed description of the methods and study area has been published elsewhere [ 18 , 19 ].…”