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

Tuyen Van Duong, Kristine Sørensen, Jürgen M. Pelikan, Stephan Van den Broucke, I. Feng Lin, Ying Chin Lin, Hsiao Ling Huang, Peter Wushou Chang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

22 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)632-646
Number of pages15
JournalWomen and Health
Volume58
Issue number6
DOIs
StatePublished - 3 Jul 2018

Keywords

  • Age
  • community involvement
  • health literacy
  • health-related television
  • women

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