RNCohortJournal of clinical nursing2026

Relationship Between Health Literacy, Health Protective Behaviour, Quality of Life and Social Health in Older Adults Living in the Community.

Ibrahim Aldemir, Celalettin Cevik

PMID 40251703

WHAT IT FOUND

Older adults had an average social health score of 50.48 ± 8.98 on a scale from 5 to 125.

Lower scores were linked to older age, higher health literacy, lower quality of life, living alone, living with children, higher education and poor health perception.

Key findings

01The mean social health score was 50.48 ± 8.98 on a scale from 5 to 125, where higher scores mean better social well-being.

02In the final model, the paper reported lower social health with older age, higher health literacy, lower quality of life, high school education or higher, living with children, living alone and poor general health perception.

03Health protective behaviour was positively related to social health in simple analysis but lost significance in the final model.

STILL TO COME

How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs

Read the rest of this summary

You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.

Already have one?

What it does not show

The study measured variables at a single time point, so it cannot show which factor came first. It sampled a specific local community, so the results may not apply to older adults in other settings. The authors note that few previous studies exist for comparison. The paper gives inconsistent population figures for the neighbourhoods in its sampling description.

Declared interests

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

The easy way to misread this

Do not conclude that living alone, higher education or higher health literacy cause poor social health. This was a one-time survey, so it can only show associations.

Read it on PubMed →