Health literacy and use of healthcare services among community-dwelling older adults living with chronic conditions

Abstract

Objective: Only 12% of the Canadian older adults have adequate health literacy (HL) to understand and handle health information sufficiently. A descriptive correlation study was conducted to describe HL and to examine its relationship with healthcare services use among community-dwelling older adults living with chronic conditions in a distant region of Quebec, Canada.Methods: Data was collected through self-report instruments including the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ), which assesses HL on nine dimensions.Results: Based on health characteristics of the nine HLQ dimensions, the results showed significant differences between subgroups of participants as well as a negative association between the HLQ dimension Appraisal of Health Information and the number of consultations with healthcare professionals (incidence rate ratio: 0.66; p = .027).Conclusions: The results highlight the need to improve older adults HL, in order to improve their health status and use of healthcare services.