The relationship between health literacy level and self-care ability in the elderly

Abstract

Introduction: Elderly people with low levels of health literacy are one of at-risk groups because they have difficulty understanding and reading health information that may affect their health care. The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between health literacy status and self-care ability in the elderly in Tabriz. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted in 2019 with the participation of 165 elderly people in the Tabriz Retirement Center. Sampling was done randomly and considering the inclusion criteria. The tools were used consisted of three sections: demographic characteristics, health literacy and self-care questionnaire. Data were analyzed by SPSS v.21 and the level of significance considered was (P< 0.05). Results: The mean (standard deviation) age and body mass index were 66.47 (5.44) and 26.75 (1.90) and 52.7% of the male participants, respectively. The mean (standard deviation) score of health literacy and self-care ability were 79.58 (11.80) and 68.95 (6.37), respectively. Most of the elderly 143 (86.7%) had adequate and higher level of health literacy. Also 83 (50.3%) had low selfcare ability. There was a positive and significant relationship (P <0.05) between health literacy and self-care ability, although this relationship was weak (r = 0.20). Conclusion: Although the level of health literacy was moderately high, however many people had insufficient self-care ability. Indicates the need to pay attention to the relevant factors in order to plan and take measures to improve the self-care capacity of the relevant authorities.