Predictive factors of health literacy among older adults with uncontrolled hypertension in Nakian Community, Nakhon Si Thammarat Province
Keywords:
Health literacy, older adults, hypertensionAbstract
This cross-sectional analytical study aimed to examine levels of social support, perceived severity of disease, self-awareness, and health literacy, as well as to analyze factors predicting health literacy among older adults with hypertension who were unable to control their blood pressure. The sample consisted of 138 participants selected by simple random sampling. Data were collected using questionnaires with content validity indices ranging from 0.67 to 1.00. Reliability coefficients were 0.86 for social support, 0.83 for perceived disease severity, 0.84 for self-awareness, 0.91 for health literacy, and 0.91 for the overall questionnaire. Data were collected between July and September 2025 and analyzed using descriptive statistics and backward multiple regression analysis.
The results revealed that most participants were female (61.59%), with a mean age of 72.48 years (SD = 6.84). The average duration of hypertension was 14.13 years (SD = 4.19). Social support was at a high level ( = 2.23, SD = 0.22), perceived severity of disease was at a high level ( = 2.50, SD = 0.22), self-awareness was at a high level ( = 3.24, SD = 0.38), and 93.48% of participants had a good level of health literacy. The regression analysis revealed that age (β = –0.809, p < .001), duration of illness (β = 0.395, p < .001), and perceived severity of disease (β = 0.236, p < .01) significantly predicted health literacy, explaining 31.8% of the variance (Adj. R² = 0.318, p < .001).
In conclusion, health literacy among older adults with uncontrolled hypertension is influenced by age, duration of illness, and perceived severity of disease. Therefore, health literacy development should not focus solely on knowledge enhancement but should also emphasize strengthening skills in accessing, understanding, appraising, and applying health information for self-care decision-making, as well as establishing age-appropriate and context-sensitive health communication systems to support effective and sustainable disease management and blood pressure control.
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