A Nomogram for Predicting the Infectious Disease-specific Health Literacy of Older Adults in China

Abstract

Summary: Purpose: To identify the predictors of infectious disease-specific health literacy (IDSHL), and establish an easy-to-apply nomogram to predict the IDSHL of older adults. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 380 older adults who completed the IDSHL, self-rated health, socio-demographic and other questionnaires. Logistic regression was used to identify the IDSHL predictors. Nomogram was used to construct a predictive model. Results: Up to 70.1% of older adults had limited IDSHL. Age, education, place of residence, self-rated health, and Internet access were the important influencing factors of IDSHL. The established nomogram model showed high accuracy (receiver operating characteristic curve: 0.848). Conclusions: The IDSHL of Chinese older adults was significantly deficient. The constructed nomogram is an intuitive tool for IDSHL prediction that can not only contribute toward rapid screening of high-risk older adults with limited IDSHL but also provide guidance for healthcare providers to develop prevention strategies for infectious diseases.

Keywords

• aged
• communicable diseases
• health literacy
• nomograms