Table 1.
Descriptivestatistics of health literacy, sociodemographic factors, stages of health behavior change, and physical inactivity among 3742 middle-aged Japanese adults.
| Variables | n (%) or Mean ± SD |
|---|---|
| Health literacy* | |
| High health literacy group | 1281 (34.2) |
| Medium health literacy group | 1473 (39.4) |
| Low health literacy group | 988 (26.4) |
| Mean CCHL scale score (points) | 3.5 ± 0.8 |
| Age (years) | |
| 60–64 | 859 (23.0) |
| 50–59 | 1657 (44.3) |
| 40–49 | 1226 (32.8) |
| Mean age (years) | 53.2 ± 6.7 |
| Gender | |
| Male | 1718 (45.9) |
| Female | 2024 (54.1) |
| Education level | |
| >12 years | 1747 (46.7) |
| 9–12 years | 1995 (53.3) |
| Occupation | |
| Presence | 3202 (85.6) |
| Absence | 540 (14.4) |
| Economic status | |
| Very good and good | 680 (18.2) |
| Average | 829 (22.2) |
| Poor and very poor | 2233 (59.7) |
| Living alone | |
| No | 3244 (86.7) |
| Yes | 498 (13.3) |
| Stages of health behavior change | |
| Non-precontemplation stage | 2496 (66.7) |
| Precontemplation stage | 1246 (33.3) |
| Physical inactivity | 2621 (70.0) |
Table 2.
Differences in physical inactivity according to health literacy, sociodemographic factors, and stages of health behavior change among 3742 middle-aged Japanese adults.
| Variables | Percentage (%) of physical inactivity | P |
|---|---|---|
| Health literacy | <0.001 | |
| High health literacy group | 64.5 | |
| Medium health literacy group | 71.9 | |
| Low health literacy group | 74.5 | |
| Age (years) | <0.001 | |
| 60–64 | 64.1 | |
| 50–59 | 70.6 | |
| 40–49 | 73.4 | |
| Gender | <0.001 | |
| Male | 66.2 | |
| Female | 73.3 | |
| Education level | 0.794 | |
| >12 years | 69.8 | |
| 9–12 years | 70.2 | |
| Occupation | 0.021 | |
| Presence | 69.3 | |
| Absence | 74.3 | |
| Economic status | <0.001 | |
| Very good and good | 62.5 | |
| Average | 68.4 | |
| Poor and very poor | 73.0 | |
| Living alone | 0.474 | |
| No | 70.3 | |
| Yes | 68.7 | |
| Stages of health behavior change | 0.315 | |
| Non-precontemplation stage | 69.5 | |
| Precontemplation stage | 71.1 |
Table 3.
Risk for physical inactivity due to inadequate health literacy among 3742 middle-aged Japanese adults.
| Variables | Multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) for physical inactivity | P |
|---|---|---|
| Health literacy | ||
| High health literacy group | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Medium health literacy group | 1.36 (1.16–1.59) | <0.001 |
| Low health literacy group | 1.70 (1.36–2.11) | <0.001 |
| Covariates in the same model | ||
| Age (years) | ||
| 60–64 | 1.0 (reference) | |
| 50–59 | 1.39 (1.16–1.67) | <0.001 |
| 40–49 | 1.63 (1.34–1.98) | <0.001 |
| Gender | ||
| Male | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Female | 1.55 (1.34–1.80) | <0.001 |
| Education level | ||
| >12 years | 1.0 (reference) | |
| 9–12 years | 0.95 (0.82–1.10) | 0.472 |
| Occupation | ||
| Presence | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Absence | 1.30 (1.05–1.61) | 0.016 |
| Economic status | ||
| Very good and good | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Average | 1.22 (0.98–1.52) | 0.077 |
| Poor and very poor | 1.52 (1.26–1.84) | <0.001 |
| Living alone | ||
| No | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Yes | 0.95 (0.77–1.17) | 0.616 |
| Stages of health behavior change | ||
| Non-precontemplation stage | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Precontemplation stage | 1.05 (0.90–1.22) | 0.548 |
1 Note: A logistic regression model was used to estimate the multivariable-adjusted ORs and 95% CIs for physical inactivity according to health literacy. Health literacy, age, gender, education level, occupation, economic status, living alone, and stages of health behavior change were included in the same model; CIs, confidence intervals; ORs, odds ratios.
Table 4.
Risk for physical inactivity due to inadequate health literacy among 3742 middle-aged Japanese adults: age-stratified analysis.
| Variables | n (%) | Percentage (%) of physical inactivity | Multivariable-adjusted OR (95% CI) for physical inactivity | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 60–64 years | ||||
| High health literacy group | 289 (7.7) | 58.1 | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Medium health literacy group | 327 (8.7) | 64.8 | 1.25 (0.90–1.75) | 0.188 |
| Low health literacy group | 243 (6.5) | 70.4 | 1.57 (1.08–2.28) | 0.019 |
| 50–59 years | ||||
| High health literacy group | 565 (15.1) | 64.4 | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Medium health literacy group | 669 (17.9) | 73.2 | 1.46 (1.14–1.87) | 0.003 |
| Low health literacy group | 423 (11.3) | 74.7 | 1.57 (1.18–2.10) | 0.002 |
| 40–49 years | ||||
| High health literacy group | 427 (11.4) | 68.9 | 1.0 (reference) | |
| Medium health literacy group | 477 (12.7) | 74.8 | 1.35 (1.01–1.81) | 0.041 |
| Low health literacy group | 322 (8.6) | 77.3 | 1.55 (1.10–2.19) | 0.012 |
1 Note: Logistic regression models were used to estimate the multivariable-adjusted ORs and 95% CIs for physical inactivity according to health literacy. Health literacy, gender, education level, occupation, economic status, living alone, and stages of health behavior change were included in the same model; CIs, confidence intervals; ORs, odds ratios.