In an apparently bizarre link, it has been found that elderly people, who have low literacy levels, are 50 per cent more vulnerable to early deaths, compared to their literate counterparts.
The scientists working on the link were astounded by the fact and figures showing the difference in death age and rates among the low and high literacy leveled older adults.
The deaths among people with low literacy level were found to be in excess number, with the magnitude getting unbelievable.
You must be pondering on what leads to this surprising link!
The roots lie basically in ‘inadequate health literacy.’ Older people, suffering from heart diseases have a tendency to defy the preventive lifestyles that can prevent it form going acute. And hence, most of them are found to die from cardiovascular disease, making it the most common cause of death among the illiterate older people.
It is to the extent that, low health literacy was found to be the top predictor of mortality after smoking!
According to the study,
There are several possible mechanisms by which the association between literacy and mortality might occur.
Inadequate health literacy is associated with less knowledge of chronic disease and worse self-management skills for patients with hypertension, diabetes mellitus, asthma and heart failure.
Thus, to help lower this astounding rate, awareness via ‘simple languages’ on how to take medications correctly, when to seek medical care and how to care for their diseases need to be initiated.
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