Coronavirus-related health literacy and perceived restrictiveness of protective measures among community-dwelling older persons in Finland
Eronen, J., Paakkari, L., Portegijs, E., & Rantanen, T. (2021). Coronavirus-related health literacy and perceived restrictiveness of protective measures among community-dwelling older persons in Finland. Aging Clinical and Experimental Research, 33(8), 2345-2353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40520-021-01928-6
Published in
Aging Clinical and Experimental ResearchDate
2021Discipline
Gerontologia ja kansanterveysTerveyskasvatusGerontologian tutkimuskeskusHyvinvoinnin tutkimuksen yhteisöGerontology and Public HealthHealth Promotion and Health EducationGerontology Research CenterSchool of WellbeingCopyright
© The Author(s) 2021
Background
Older people with limited health literacy may encounter difficulties in finding relevant information on COVID-19, understanding its relevance, and complying with recommended protective measures. Complying with such recommendations has required older as well as younger persons to change their daily lives in ways that have reduced their opportunities for engaging in many activities meaningful to them.
Aims
To find out from what sources older people have obtained information on protective measures, the level of their coronavirus-related health literacy (CHL), and whether CHL is associated with their perceptions of the restrictiveness of coronavirus-related protective measures.
Methods
696 Finnish men and women aged over 77 answered a mailed questionnaire on their CHL, sources of information and perceptions of the restrictiveness of the recommended protective measures. The association of CHL with perceived restrictiveness was studied using multinomial logistic regression analysis.
Results
Television and newspapers were the most frequently reported sources of information. Reporting high confidence in the ability to assess how one’s behavior influences coronavirus infection risk was associated with higher odds of perceiving the protective measures to be highly restrictive, when controlling for age, gender, and difficulty in using digital devices (OR 3.21, 95% CI 1.09, 9.46).
Discussion
Participants who reported being highly confident about their ability to appraise the influence of their behavior on their susceptibility to coronavirus infection were more likely to perceive that the recommended protective measures had restricted their daily lives.
Conclusions
Health literacy plays a role in complying with recommended restrictions.
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Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLCISSN Search the Publication Forum
1594-0667Keywords
Publication in research information system
https://converis.jyu.fi/converis/portal/detail/Publication/98963200
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Related funder(s)
European Commission; Ministry of Education and CultureFunding program(s)
ERC European Research Council, H2020; Others![](/themes/JYX2/images/funders/erc_logo_thumb.jpg)
![](/themes/JYX2/images/funders/eu_logo_thumb.jpg)
The content of the publication reflects only the author’s view. The funder is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Additional information about funding
Open access funding provided by University of Jyväskylä (JYU). This work was supported by the European Research Council (grant number 693045 to TR); the Academy of Finland (grant number 255403 to TR); and the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture (to EP). The funding agencies had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, interpretation of data, writing the report, or in the decision to submit the article for publication.![showless](/themes/JYX2//images/showless.png)
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