Kazuki Uemura1, Minoru Yamada2, Masafumi Kuzuya3, Hiroshi Okamoto1. 1. Department of Liberal arts and Sciences, Toyama Prefectural University. 2. Graduate School of Comprehensive Human Sciences, University of Tsukuba. 3. Department of Community Healthcare and Geriatrics, Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya University.
Abstract
AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of limited health literacy on arterial stiffness measured by the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: A total of 288 older adults (mean age, 72.4 years, men, n = 99) participated. The degree of arterial stiffness was assessed based on the CAVI using the VS-1500 device (Fukuda Denshi Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Arterial stiffness was defined according to a cut-off point of ≥9.0. Comprehensive health literacy was assessed using the 47-item European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47). Other potential confounding factors, such as demographics, number of prescribed medications, mini-mental state examination results, grip strength, gait speed, current smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity, were also assessed. An analysis of variance for continuous variables or chi-square test for categorical variables was used for group comparisons. A logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between quartiles of HLS-EU-Q47 and arterial stiffness in crude and multivariate models adjusted for age, gender, and other confounding factors. RESULTS: The first quartile with the lowest health literacy showed a significantly higher CAVI and prevalence of arterial stiffness than the fourth quartile with the highest health literacy (p<0.05). In logistic regression, the crude model showed that the third quartile (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 0.48 [0.24-0.93]) and fourth quartile (0.39 [0.19-0.77]) were significantly associated with arterial stiffness, while the multivariate model showed that to fourth quartile was significantly associated with arterial stiffness (0.44 [0.19-0.98]). CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with limited health literacy might be at a higher risk of arterial stiffness after accounting for confounding factors.
AIM: This study aimed to investigate the effects of limited health literacy on arterial stiffness measured by the cardio-ankle vascular index (CAVI) in community-dwelling older adults. METHODS: A total of 288 older adults (mean age, 72.4 years, men, n = 99) participated. The degree of arterial stiffness was assessed based on the CAVI using the VS-1500 device (Fukuda Denshi Co., Ltd., Tokyo, Japan). Arterial stiffness was defined according to a cut-off point of ≥9.0. Comprehensive health literacy was assessed using the 47-item European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47). Other potential confounding factors, such as demographics, number of prescribed medications, mini-mental state examination results, grip strength, gait speed, current smoking, alcohol consumption, and physical inactivity, were also assessed. An analysis of variance for continuous variables or chi-square test for categorical variables was used for group comparisons. A logistic regression analysis was performed to examine the association between quartiles of HLS-EU-Q47 and arterial stiffness in crude and multivariate models adjusted for age, gender, and other confounding factors. RESULTS: The first quartile with the lowest health literacy showed a significantly higher CAVI and prevalence of arterial stiffness than the fourth quartile with the highest health literacy (p<0.05). In logistic regression, the crude model showed that the third quartile (odds ratio [95% confidence interval] = 0.48 [0.24-0.93]) and fourth quartile (0.39 [0.19-0.77]) were significantly associated with arterial stiffness, while the multivariate model showed that to fourth quartile was significantly associated with arterial stiffness (0.44 [0.19-0.98]). CONCLUSIONS: Older adults with limited health literacy might be at a higher risk of arterial stiffness after accounting for confounding factors.
Entities:
Keywords:
Cardio-ankle vascular index; Care prevention; Health education; Health-care; Physical activity