Health literacy supports active aging
Publiceringsår
2021
Upphovspersoner
Eronen, Johanna; Paakkari, Leena; Portegijs, Erja; Saajanaho, Milla; Rantanen, Taina
Abstrakt
From the individual viewpoint, active aging refers to the ability of older persons, depending on their goals, functional capacity and opportunities, to engage in desired activities. This study investigated the role of health literacy in active aging among persons differing in their number of chronic conditions. Data were collected from 948 individuals, 57% women, aged 75, 80 and 85 in 2017–2018 in the city of Jyväskylä in Central Finland. Health literacy was assessed with the 16-question version of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-Q16), active aging with the University of Jyväskylä Active Aging Scale (UJACAS) and self-reported physician-diagnosed chronic conditions. Both health literacy (r = 0.40) and number of chronic conditions (r = −0.21) correlated with the active aging score. Linear regression models revealed that health literacy was a stronger predictor than chronic conditions of active aging (β 0.18, p < 0.001 vs. β −0.06, p = 0.030) and that its predictive value remained statistically significant after adjustment for cognitive capacity, number of depressive symptoms, physical performance and length of education. Higher health literacy can enable older persons, including those with multiple chronic conditions, to maintain higher levels of active aging. As more people are projected to live with chronic conditions to older ages, health literacy may help them to cope with illnesses and functional limitations and lead a fulfilling life. These cross-sectional findings lay a foundation for future prospective and experimental studies on health literacy and active aging.
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Publikationstyp
Publikationsform
Artikel
Moderpublikationens typ
Tidning
Artikelstyp
En originalartikel
Målgrupp
VetenskapligKollegialt utvärderad
Kollegialt utvärderadUKM:s publikationstyp
A1 Originalartikel i en vetenskaplig tidskriftPublikationskanalens uppgifter
Journal
Förläggare
Volym
143
Artikelnummer
106330
ISSN
Publikationsforum
Publikationsforumsnivå
2
Öppen tillgång
Öppen tillgänglighet i förläggarens tjänst
Nej
Parallellsparad
Ja
Övriga uppgifter
Vetenskapsområden
Hälsovetenskap; Folkhälsovetenskap, miljö och arbetshälsa
Nyckelord
[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object],[object Object]
Publiceringsland
Nederländerna
Förlagets internationalitet
Internationell
Språk
engelska
Internationell sampublikation
Nej
Sampublikation med ett företag
Nej
DOI
10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106330
Publikationen ingår i undervisnings- och kulturministeriets datainsamling
Ja