A study on the health literacy of the elderly in rural area

The purpose of this study is to determine the impact factors of health literacy target the elderly in rural areas. From February 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014, IRB approval was given to the elderly in rural areas and the survey was conducted. 172 participants were used in the final analysis. The questionnaire consisted of demographic characteristics, family support, self-efficacy, and health literacy. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation and multiple regression using SPSS 18.0 statistical program. As a result of this study, it was found that most of the variables except for gender were influential on health literacy in addition to educational literacy, literacy, occupation, subjective health status, frequency of drug use and recent hospitalization. The level of family support, self-efficacy, and health literacy were higher than average, showing a positive correlation with each other. The factors affecting health literacy were subjective health status, self-efficacy, and reading and writing disability negatively.