The report pointed out that senior citizens who read at less than a ninth grade level were one and a half times more likely than other study participants to report poor overall health and diabetes, and twice as likely to report depression.
The results of this study appeared in the May 2006 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatric Society. It involved participation by 2,512 seniors between the ages of 70 and 79. Nearly ¼ of the seniors surveyed had limited literacy, which means that they "may have trouble reading basic health information or pill bottle instructions," according to lead author Rebecca Sudore, MD, a staff physician at SFVAMC.
The researchers also found that people with a sixth-grade or lower reading level were twice as likely as the ninth-grade and above group to have poor access to health care. Few had a regular doctor, most hadn’t had a flu shot within the past year, and many lacked insurance to cover the cost of regular prescriptions.
"As a geriatrician, the results of this study break my heart," Sudore told the Senior Journal. "Elders already have the highest medication and disease burden. Adding limited literacy to the list of problems makes these elders particularly vulnerable to poor outcomes, as we found in our study."
"Elders with limited literacy have a hard time reading their pill bottles, managing their diseases, filling out needed forms for their care, and being able to navigate through the health care system," notes Sudore. "Unfortunately, in this study, we found that the very group of elders who would benefit from having more access to health care actually had worse access. Since the elders in our study were fairly well-functioning, problems accessing care and managing disease are likely to be even worse for frailer elders."
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