Objective: To identify relationships between the health literacy and self-reported preventive health practices of US adults.
Methods: Measured health literacy and preventive health practices for a nationally representative sample of adults (N = 18,100) and conducted probit regression analyses after controlling for age, gender, race/ethnicity, poverty level, insurance status, self-reported health status, and oral reading fluency.
Results: Low literacy was associated with a decreased likelihood of using most preventive health measures under study for adults aged 65 and older, but not for adults of 2 younger age groups.
Conclusion: The relationship between health literacy and preventive health practices varied substantially by adult age group.