Elucidation of the function of health literacy for preventing frailty in older age

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K17926
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Early-Career Scientists
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: Basic Section 59040:Nutrition science and health science-related
• Research Institution: Toyama Prefectural University
• Principal Investigator: Uemura Kazuki 富山県立大学, 工学部, 講師 (50735404)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 健康教育 / 介護予防 / ライフスタイル / アクティブラーニング / 理学療法

Outline of Final Research Achievements

According to the results of our prospective cohort study, older adults with higher comprehensive health literacy are less likely to be frail at two-year follow-up than those with a lower literacy. A randomized controlled trial demonstrated that the active-learning health education was effective in improving communicative health literacy, lifestyle behaviors (i.e., physical activity, dietary variety, and social network size), and physical function among older adults with low health literacy. Additionally, when compared to the control group, proportion of subjects with pre-frailty or frailty was lower in the intervention group at the 18-month follow-up.

Free Research Field

応用健康科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究の結果より、包括的ヘルスリテラシーが高齢者のフレイルの保護因子であることが示唆された。また、ヘルスリテラシー向上のためのアクティブラーニング介入の行動変容・機能改善効果が示された。ヘルスリテラシー向上によるフレイル予防は、機能回復訓練を中心とした従来の介入とは異なり、事業後も持続的に健康行動を学び、自らライフスタイルを改善させることを目指した新しい視点であり、健康教育を通じた高齢者の介護予防の新たな可能性を示唆する点で意義が大きい。