The Relationship between Health Literacy and Food Supplement Product Consumption Behavior of the Elderly

Abstract

This research is a survey research study by conducting a cross-section research, which aims to examine the level of health literacy         of the elderly, to study the relationship between demographic characteristics and health literacy, and to discover the relationship between health literacy and food supplement product consumption behavior of the elderly. Systematic random sampling was employed. Questionnaire were used to collect the data from 353 elderly at Lak Hok, Mueang, Pathum Thani, Thailand. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, including frequency, percentage, mean, minimum, maximum and standard deviation. Moreover, to analyze the relationships between study variables using the Chi-square and Pearson’s correlation coefficient statistic, the p-value of .05 was considered statistically significant. The results showed that the participants had a mean age of 68.17 years old. Most of them were female (66.3%), the participants had inadequate health literacy (Mean = 152.01, SD. = 53.43). Elderly people had high scores on dietary supplement consumption behavior (Mean = 53.15, SD. = 14.19). Chi-square and Pearson’s correlation coefficient analysis showed that age, education level, occupation, household income, and source of income are significant related to health literacy at p <0.05. The relationships between health literacy and sex, marital status was not found. Health literacy significantly related to food supplement consumption with statistical significance of .05 (r=0.380, p <0.001). The results of this study suggest that health literacy and food supplement product consumption behavior need to be further supported in elderly from government agencies. And there should be a field inspection of dietary supplements in pharmacies and stores.