Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population

Abstract Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the importance of health literacy (HL) was addressed by public health researchers. We longitudinally examined the changes in general HL and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between immediately before the COVID-19 outb...

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Autores principales:	Hirono Ishikawa, Mio Kato, Takahiro Kiuchi
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	BMC 2021
Materias:	COVID-19 Health literacy Health related quality of life Longitudinal study Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/4e2f5eec6fd646c49c8db67d156a9785
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:4e2f5eec6fd646c49c8db67d156a97852021-11-28T12:12:13ZDeclines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population10.1186/s12889-021-12092-x1471-2458https://doaj.org/article/4e2f5eec6fd646c49c8db67d156a97852021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-021-12092-xhttps://doaj.org/toc/1471-2458Abstract Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the importance of health literacy (HL) was addressed by public health researchers. We longitudinally examined the changes in general HL and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak and 1 year later, and how general HL before the outbreak was related to changes in HRQOL in the Japanese general population. Methods Among the Japanese residents aged 20–79 years who participated in our previous study in 2017, 826 were followed-up via self-administered questionnaires in January 2020 and February 2021, for the purposes of this study. The HRQOL was measured using the SF-8, a short version of the SF-36 Health Survey, and general HL was measured using the short form of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HL-SF12) in the 2020 and 2021 surveys. Results The physical and mental dimensions of HRQOL as well as general HL declined significantly from immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak to 1 year later (p = .010, p < .001 and p < .001, respectively). The decline in HRQOL, especially the mental dimension, was more significant among women. A lower economic status was also related to a greater decline in HRQOL (p = .026 for the physical dimension and p = .012 for the mental dimension). Higher general HL before the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with a lesser decline in HRQOL in both the physical and mental dimensions (p = .040 and p < .001, respectively) after controlling for possible confounding variables such as gender and economic status. Conclusions Healthcare support is crucial for vulnerable populations during and after the pandemic. General HL may be important for attenuating the decline in HRQOL, by enabling effective use of health information and adaptive behaviors toward health threats. Further studies are needed to better understand the association between HL and HRQOL.Hirono IshikawaMio KatoTakahiro KiuchiBMCarticleCOVID-19Health literacyHealth related quality of lifeLongitudinal studyPublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENBMC Public Health, Vol 21, Iss 1, Pp 1-9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	COVID-19 Health literacy Health related quality of life Longitudinal study Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	COVID-19 Health literacy Health related quality of life Longitudinal study Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Hirono Ishikawa Mio Kato Takahiro Kiuchi Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
description	Abstract Background During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, the importance of health literacy (HL) was addressed by public health researchers. We longitudinally examined the changes in general HL and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) between immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak and 1 year later, and how general HL before the outbreak was related to changes in HRQOL in the Japanese general population. Methods Among the Japanese residents aged 20–79 years who participated in our previous study in 2017, 826 were followed-up via self-administered questionnaires in January 2020 and February 2021, for the purposes of this study. The HRQOL was measured using the SF-8, a short version of the SF-36 Health Survey, and general HL was measured using the short form of the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HL-SF12) in the 2020 and 2021 surveys. Results The physical and mental dimensions of HRQOL as well as general HL declined significantly from immediately before the COVID-19 outbreak to 1 year later (p = .010, p < .001 and p < .001, respectively). The decline in HRQOL, especially the mental dimension, was more significant among women. A lower economic status was also related to a greater decline in HRQOL (p = .026 for the physical dimension and p = .012 for the mental dimension). Higher general HL before the COVID-19 outbreak was associated with a lesser decline in HRQOL in both the physical and mental dimensions (p = .040 and p < .001, respectively) after controlling for possible confounding variables such as gender and economic status. Conclusions Healthcare support is crucial for vulnerable populations during and after the pandemic. General HL may be important for attenuating the decline in HRQOL, by enabling effective use of health information and adaptive behaviors toward health threats. Further studies are needed to better understand the association between HL and HRQOL.
format	article
author	Hirono Ishikawa Mio Kato Takahiro Kiuchi
author_facet	Hirono Ishikawa Mio Kato Takahiro Kiuchi
author_sort	Hirono Ishikawa
title	Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
title_short	Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
title_full	Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
title_fullStr	Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
title_full_unstemmed	Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
title_sort	declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the covid-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the japanese general population
publisher	BMC
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/4e2f5eec6fd646c49c8db67d156a9785
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Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population

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