Determining the relationship between health literacy level and quality of life among the elderly living in nursing homes

The literacy level of the elderly is predictive of health behaviors, average hospitalization in health centers, and the type of verbal interaction with health service providers; as the level of literacy changes, the quality of life may also change. This study aimed to determine the relationship between health literacy level and quality of life among the elderly living in nursing homes in 2018–2019.

This study was of a descriptive‑analytic, correlation type that was performed on 175 elderly of selected nursing homes in Tehran. The research tools included the Abbreviated Mental Test; Control, Autonomy, Pleasure and Self‑realization questionnaire‑19; and Health Literacy of Iranian Adults Questionnaire (HELIA). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics by SPSS 22 software.

The total score of health literacy and the quality of life of the elderly was 51.01 and 47.75, respectively. The literacy of most of the studied samples was “inadequate” and “not much adequate” (0–66). The relationship between health literacy and quality of life in the elderly was significant, and there was a direct and statistically significant relationship between them (P = 0.003). That is, by an increase in literacy rates, the scores of quality of life of elderly people were also increased. The correlation was equal to r = −0.28. Health literacy has the ability (31.98%) to predict the quality of life.

The results showed a lack of enough education literacy, the average quality of life, and the existence of a significant relationship between health literacy and quality of life in the elderly. The wide range of inadequate literacy in the elderly reveals the importance of paying more attention to the issue of literacy in health planning and health promotion at the national and local levels.