ArticleJournal of general internal medicine2015
Cognitive Function and Health Literacy Decline in a Cohort of Aging English Adults.
Article in Journal of general internal medicine, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 69 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
69 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Meta-analysis of controlled trials testing horticultural therapy for the improvement of cognitive function.Scientific reports · 2020Pooled it
- Psychological characteristics and functional abilities in older adults with subjective cognitive complaints: A potential new target for early intervention.International psychogeriatrics · 2026Trial
- Sex differences in the associations of accelerometer-determined physical activity with physical and cognitive function in older adults living in long-term care.Frontiers in public health · 2024Trial
- Effectiveness, Moderators and Mediators of Self-regulation Intervention on Older Adults' Exercise Behavior: a Randomized, Controlled Crossover Trial.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Trial
- Health Literacy and Chronic Disease Self-Efficacy Among Older Adults with Multimorbidity: Evidence from Low-Resource Context.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Self-Reported Driving Problems Predict Future Traffic Crashes in Older Men: Prevalence and Determinants of Unrecognized Imminent Risk.Journal of the American Geriatrics Society · 2026Article
- Associations of health literacy with rational drug use awareness and sleep hygiene in older adults: a cross-sectional study.BMC geriatrics · 2026Article
- Liquid biopsies in precision oncology for older adults with cancer.NPJ precision oncology · 2026Review
- Policy awareness among community-dwelling older adults: The roles of cognitive status and digital access.PloS one · 2026Article
- Determinants of health literacy among older adults in Saboba district in Ghana: a cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Mediating Role of Health Literacy in Relationship Between Frailty and Medical Costs in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Article
- Physical activity partially mediates the association between health literacy and mild cognitive impairment in older adults: cross-sectional evidence from Switzerland.European journal of public health · 2025Article
- Differential correlations of changes in in vivo neuroimaging markers of hippocampal volume and arteriolosclerosis with declining financial and health literacy in old age.Brain imaging and behavior · 2024Article
- Compromised informed consent due to functional health literacy challenges in Chinese hospitals.BMC medical ethics · 2024Article
- Roles of Health Literacy in Relation to Social Determinants of Health and Recommendations for Informatics-Based Interventions: Systematic Review.Online journal of public health informatics · 2024Review
- Health literacy mediates the relationships of cognitive and physical functions with health-related quality of life in older adults.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Article
- Development and validation of educational multimedia to promote public health literacy about healthy cognitive aging.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2023Article
- Well-Being and Aging-Related Decline in Financial and Health Literacy in Advanced Age.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2023Article
9 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow health literacy is common among aging patients and is a risk factor for morbidity and mortality. We aimed to describe health literacy decline during aging and to investigate the roles of cognitive function and decline in determining health literacy decline.
methodsData were from 5,256 non-cognitively impaired adults aged ≥ 52 years in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Health literacy was assessed using a four-item reading comprehension assessment of a fictitious medicine label, and cognitive function was assessed in a battery administered in-person at baseline (2004-2005) and at follow-up (2010-2011).
resultsOverall, 19.6% (1,032/5,256) of participants declined in health literacy score over the follow-up. Among adults aged ≥ 80 years at baseline, this proportion was 38.2% (102/267), compared to 14.8% (78/526) among adults aged 52-54 years (OR = 3.21; 95% CI: 2.26-4.57). Other sociodemographic predictors of health literacy decline were: male sex (OR = 1.20; 95% CI: 1.04-1.38), non-white ethnicity (OR = 2.42; 95% CI: 1.51-3.89), low educational attainment (OR = 1.58; 95% CI: 1.29-1.95 for no qualifications vs. degree education), and low occupational class (OR = 1.67; 95% CI: 1.39-2.01 for routine vs. managerial occupations). Higher baseline cognitive function scores protected against health literacy decline, while cognitive decline (yes vs. no) predicted decline in health literacy score (OR = 1.59; 95% CI: 1.35-1.87 for memory decline and OR = 1.56; 95% CI: 1.32-1.85 for executive function decline).
conclusionsHealth literacy decline appeared to increase with age, and was associated with even subtle cognitive decline in older non-impaired adults. Striking social inequalities were evident, whereby men and those from minority and deprived backgrounds were particularly vulnerable to literacy decline. Health practitioners must be able to recognize limited health literacy to ensure that clinical demands match the literacy skills of diverse patients.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.