Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40238438›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of environmental research and public health2025

Subjective Health Literacy and Personality in Older Adults: Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, and Openness as Key Predictors-A Cross-Sectional Study.

Lena Haarmann, Elke Kalbe, Görkem Anapa, Dilara Kurt, Ümran Sema Seven

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of environmental research and public health, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors.

Lena HaarmannMedical Psychology|Neuropsychology and Gender Studies & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
Elke KalbeMedical Psychology|Neuropsychology and Gender Studies & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.ORCID 0000-0001-8603-2545
Görkem AnapaMedical Psychology|Neuropsychology and Gender Studies & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
Dilara KurtMedical Psychology|Neuropsychology and Gender Studies & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.
Ümran Sema SevenMedical Psychology|Neuropsychology and Gender Studies & Center for Neuropsychological Diagnostics and Intervention (CeNDI), Faculty of Medicine and University Hospital Cologne, University of Cologne, 50937 Cologne, Germany.ORCID 0000-0002-9806-7435

Funding

Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research, Department 134, of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia will be added
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Low health literacy (HL) is associated with numerous negative health behaviors and outcomes, making it crucial to understand its underlying determinants. While associations between sociodemographic variables and subjective HL have already been demonstrated, data on the association between HL and personality remain limited. This study aims to extend the current knowledge by exploring how personality traits influence HL, beyond the effects of sociodemographic variables on HL. A cross-sectional study was performed with a sample of 238 healthy participants aged 50 to 92 years. Personality was measured using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory and subjective health literacy using the HLS-EU-Q47 questionnaire. Descriptive and correlational analyses as well as a multiple linear regression analysis with the Big Five personality traits, sex, age, and education as predictors of subjective health literacy were performed. The General-HL index was 37.22 (SD 7.98), which corresponds to sufficient or non-limited health literacy. The Big Five personality traits accounted for 32.2% of the variance in health literacy. Of the traits, Conscientiousness emerged as the strongest predictor (β = 0.31, medium effect), followed by Neuroticism (β = -0.21, small effect) and Openness to experience (β = 0.15, small effect). Sex was also a significant predictor of health literacy (β = 0.14, small effect). These results suggest that personality plays a significant role in health literacy, with higher Conscientiousness, lower Neuroticism, and higher Openness to experience, as well as female sex, predicting better health literacy. These findings underscore the importance of considering personality traits in interventions aimed at improving health literacy, with potential implications for both theoretical understanding and practical application in healthcare settings.

Indexed as

Health LiteracyNeuroticismPersonalityAgedAged, 80 and overCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedSurveys and QuestionnairesBig Five personality traitshealth literacyHLS-EU-Q47personality

Identifiers

PMID40238438
PMCPMC11942053

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.