• Therapeutic Science for Rehabilitation
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.65-80
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• 2021

Objective : This study aimed to develop a Korean version of the HLS-EU-Q47 that deals with the concept of health literacy based on the understanding, apply/use, process/appraisal, and access/obtain to health information. The purpose of this study is to confirm the level of comprehensive health literacy of the elderly in Korea using this tool. Methods : After going through the Korean interpretation process of HLS-EU-Q47, the items were confirmed through content validity verification by experts. The completed Korean-HLS-EU-Q47 (K-HLS-EU-Q47) was applied to 254 elderly people in the local community to analyze the degree of internal consistency and reliability. Furthermore, a comparative analysis based on the general variables was conducted. Results : The internal consistency of this tool for the elderly yielded Cronbach's 𝛼 of .81~.91, indicating a high level of reliability. There was a difference in health literacy according to sex and age based on general characteristics. Men had higher health literacy than women, and with increasing age, health literacy decreased. Conclusion : In this study, the K-HLS-EU-Q47 was developed to assess the comprehensive health literacy level of the elderly in Korea. It is expected that the search for ways to maintain a healthier life for the elderly through understanding the health literacy levels of the elderly using the results of this study will become more active.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.146-159
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• 2019

Background: The purpose of this study is to measure the Korean health literacy level and to analyse its gaps according to the factors of socioeconomic and health status and health behaviors. Based on this, policy implications were reviewed to improve the understandability on health information and to reduce the gap among socioeconomic groups. Methods: HLS-EU-Q47, a tool developed by the European Health Literacy Project, was used to conduct a face-to-face interview survey on the health literacy for the samples from general population. Results: The public general health literacy (HL) index was 34.5 out of 50. HL is consisted of three sub-dimensions: healthcare (HC-HL), disease prevention (DP-HL), and health promotion (HP-HL). And a HL analysis found scores of 34.7 points for HC-HL, 35.4 points for DP-HL, and 33.3 points for HP-HL. The level of all HL was different according to socioeconomic characteristics and health behavior. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, more research activities on health-related literacy need to be conducted, and monitoring system on the HL level needs to be developed and implemented. In addition, a program to improve HL levels needs to be developed in order to strengthen the basis for a more sustainable healthcare system as an agenda with national health policy priority.