HEALTH LITERACY AND HEALTH CARE SEEKING BEHAVIOR OF THE ELDERLY IN HUE CITY

Objectives: To assess the health literacy and identify the relationship between the health literacy and health care seeking behavior among the older persons in Hue city. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Hue city. 400 older persons were interviewed directly using a structured questionnaire. Health literacy was assessed by HLS- Asian- Q. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to identify the relationship between health literacy and health care seeking behavior. Results: 20.0% of the respondents got inadequate health literacy. The proportion of the elderly who achieved health literacy in health care, health prevention and health promotion were 25.7%, 10.0% and 28.0%, respectively. The percentage of the elderly who have sought health care services and health promotion services were 76.7% and 68,0%, respectively. There was a relationship between health literacy and treatment seeking behaviour (OR= 3.71; 95% CI: 1.25-11.01) and health prevention service seeking behaviour among participants (OR=3.30; 95% CI:1.16-9.40). Conclusions: Health literacy of the elderly was still low in Hue city. There is influence of health literacy on health care seeking behavior among them. Enhancing health literacy for the older persons should be a necessary solution to improve their health status. Keywords: Health literacy, health seeking behavior, older persons, Hue city.