Sahel Sangsefidi - ۱. Imam Hasan Educational, Research and Treatment Center, North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnurd, Iran
Akram Ghanbari Moghaddam - Nursing and Midwifery care research Center, Department of Medical Surgical, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Mashhad University of Medical sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Safooreh Esmaielzadeh iri sofla - Department of Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Saeedeh Avazzade - Department of Health Education and Promotion, Faculty of Health Sciences, Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran
Zeinab Karbalaee - Department of Nursing, University of Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Zahra Khadem - Ghaem Research and Treatment Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran
Mojtaba Mohammadi - Iranian Research Center on Healthy Aging, Sabzevar University of Medical Sciences, Sabzevar, Iran

Introduction: Quality of life of older adults is one of the most important issues in their health care. The aim of this study was to investigate the power of health literacy and general literacy in predicting quality of life among older adults in Bojnurd, Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 180 older adults in Bojnurd city in 2016. The participants were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling method. The instruments used in this study included the demographic variables questionnaire, 12-Item Short Form Health Survey  and Health Literacy for Iranian Adults. To describe and analyze the data, SPSS software was used. Descriptive statistics, Kolmogorov-Smirnov, Mann-Whitney U, ANOVA, Spearman correlation coefficient, and multifactorial regression analysis were run to analyze the data.  Results: The mean health literacy score was 69.76 ± 15.05 (score range from 0 to 100) and the mean score of quality of life was 26.2 ± 6.12 (score range from 12 to 48). The level of health literacy was insufficient in 32.2% of the participants and about half of them lacked general literacy. The relationship between health literacy and quality of life was statistically significant (p < 0.001) (r = 0.54). A significant difference was observed between the illiterate and literate seniors with regard to their quality of life scores (p < 0.001). The predictive power of health literacy and general literacy was statistically significant in obtaining a higher score in quality of life with Beta coefficients of 0.65 and 0.25, respectively (p < 0.001).  Conclusion: Although health literacy and general literacy affect the elderlies’ quality of life positively, health literacy is more effective. Therefore, authorities are suggested to increase their quality of health literacy to improve the seniors’ quality of life.  

Aged, Health Literacy, General Literacy, Quality of Lif