Association of Health Literacy With the Prevalence of Cardiovascular Diseases and Their Risk Factors Among Older Japanese Health Management Specialists

Abstract

In this study, we aimed to determine the association between health literacy and the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), among an older population. This cross-sectional study was conducted among Japanese health management specialists ( N = 593). Higher levels (communicative and critical) of health literacy and CVD risk factors (diabetes mellitus, hypertension, dyslipidemia, and obesity) were measured. The mean patient age was 71.3 years. Logistic regression analyses showed statistically significant associations between higher levels of health literacy and the prevalence of CVDs (β coefficient = −.091, p < .05) and metabolic risk factors (β coefficient = −.084, p < .01). There was a statistically significant association between health literacy and the count of CVDs (and its risk factors) (β coefficients of Poisson regression = −.036, p < .05). The results show health literacy to be fundamentally related to low prevalence of cardiovascular diseases and their associated metabolic risk factors.