Table 2.
Health literacy score and the prevalence of low health literacy by participant characteristics.
| Characteristics | Number (%) a | Health Literacy Score | Prevalence of Low Health Literacy | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean ± SD | p Value | Number (%) b | p Value | |||
| Gender | Male | 648 (47.6%) | 41.87 ± 9.75 | 0.876 | 547 (84.4%) | 0.944 |
| Female | 712 (52.4%) | 41.96 ± 9.68 | 602 (84.6%) | |||
| Age group | 15–35 | 353 (26.0%) | 44.07 ± 9.00 | <0.001 | 270 (76.5%) | <0.001 |
| 36–59 | 662 (48.7%) | 42.34 ± 9.06 | 566 (85.5%) | |||
| 60–69 | 345 (25.4%) | 38.91 ± 10.85 | 313 (90.7%) | |||
| Education level | Primary school or below | 77 (5.7%) | 35.39 ± 10.72 | <0.001 | 75 (97.4%) | <0.001 |
| Junior high school | 396 (29.1%) | 38.70 ± 9.66 | 376 (94.9%) | |||
| High school/technical college | 391 (28.8%) | 42.32 ± 9.16 | 330 (84.4%) | |||
| University or above | 496 (36.5%) | 45.19 ± 8.66 | 368 (74.2%) | |||
| Occupation c | Technical/professional | 85 (6.2%) | 45.57 ± 8.40 | <0.001 | 56 (65.9%) | <0.001 |
| Commercial/service | 598 (44.0%) | 43.61 ± 9.64 | 477 (79.8%) | |||
| Students | 39 (2.9%) | 44.36 ± 7.30 | 33 (84.6%) | |||
| Manual | 460 (33.8%) | 40.01 ± 9.38 | 423 (92.0%) | |||
| Unemployed/others | 178 (13.1%) | 38.92 ± 10.09 | 160 (89.9%) | |||
| Annual household income d | ¥0–¥49,999 | 187 (13.8%) | 38.30 ± 9.92 | <0.001 | 176 (94.1%) | <0.001 |
| ¥50,000–¥99,999 | 491 (36.1%) | 40.57 ± 9.51 | 436 (88.8%) | |||
| ¥100,000–¥14,999 | 396 (29.1%) | 43.18 ± 9.54 | 322 (81.3%) | |||
| ≥¥150,000 | 286 (21.0%) | 44.87 ± 9.01 | 215 (75.2%) | |||
| Prevalence of a non-communicable chronic disease | ||||||
| Yes | 383 (28.2%) | 40.32 ± 10.00 | <0.001 | 340 (88.8%) | 0.006 | |
| No | 977 (71.8) | 42.55 ± 9.53 | 809 (82.8%) | |||
a percentage in all respondents; b percentage in subgroups of respondents by characteristics; c occupations were categorized into 5 groups: technical or professional occupations (i.e., civil servants, teachers and health care workers); commercial or service occupations (i.e., other public institutions’ staff and employees of enterprise); students; manual occupations (i.e., peasants and workers); and unemployed and all other cases (e.g., the unemployed or retired). d ¥: RMB, Chinese Yuan.