探討曾有急診就醫經驗老年人之健康識能

This study explored health literacy and associated factors among older adults admitted to emergency departments (EDs). A cross-sectional research design was adopted. Participants were purposively selected with the inclusion criteria of being over 65 years of age, being clear conscious, being able to communicate in Mandarin or Taiwanese, and having agreed to participate in the study. Participants who had not been admitted to ED within the past year or who were illiterate were excluded. A battery of questionnaires was used to collect data, including demographics, health-related variables (diseases and medications, history of falls, nutritional status, cognition function, and physical activity), and the health literacy scale. Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient were used to analyze and interpret the study results. The results of this study indicated that digestive system disease and cardiovascular disease were the most common reasons for older adults to be admitted to ED. The findings also revealed that the reading comprehension domain of older adults' health literacy required improvement; and several factors were correlated with health literacy including age, educational level, economic status, cognition function, and physical activity. This study highlights the importance of health literacy among older adults admitted to ED by employing pictures or multimedia tools, instead of words, to provide health information; it also offers suggestions to decrease the risks of people requiring ED treatment.