Subjective health literacy and older adults' assessment of direct-to-consumer prescription drug ads.

Older adults are increasingly the intended target of direct-to-consumer (DTC) prescription drug ads, but limited evidence exists as to how they assess the educational value of DTC ads and, more importantly, whether their assessment depends on their level of health literacy. In-person interviews of 170 older adults revealed that those with low subjective health literacy evaluated the educational value of DTC ads significantly lower than did those with high subjective health literacy. The results prompt us to pay more scholarly attention to determining how effectively DTC ads convey useful medical information, particularly to those with limited health literacy.