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. 2021 May 2;18(9):4860. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18094860

Table 2.

Distribution of respondent characteristics and health literacy levels using HLS-M-Q18 (N = 866).

N (%) Health Literacy Level N (%)
Inadequate Problematic Sufficient Excellent
Respondents 866 (100) 154 (17.8) 348 (40.2) 284 (32.8) 79 (9.1)
Age (mean) 866 (33.6) 33.1 33.8 33.5 33.8
Gen Z
(1995–2012)
211 (24.4) 33 (15.6) 75 (35.5) 78 (37.0) 25 (11.8)
Gen Y
(1977–1994)
377 (43.6) 73 (19.4) 162 (43.0) 114 (30.2) 28 (7.4)
Gen X
(1966–1976)
184 (21.3) 34 (18.5) 77 (41.8) 58 (31.5) 15 (8.2)
Baby Boomers
(1950–1965)
93 (9.8) 13 (14.0) 34 (36.6) 35 (37.6) 11 (11.8)
Gender
Male 303 (35) 65 (21.5) 109 (36.0) 105 (34.7) 24 (7.9)
Female 563 (65) 89 (15.8) 239 (42.5) 180 (32.0) 55 (9.8)
Race
Malay 470 (54.3) 68 (14.5) 188 (40.0) 170 (36.2) 44 (9.4)
Chinese 213 (24.6) 46 (21.6) 89 (41.8) 59 (27.7) 19 (8.9)
Indian 65 (7.5) 15 (23.1) 21 (32.3) 23 (35.4) 6 (9.2)
Bumiputera 115 (13.3) 25 (21.7) 48 (41.7) 32 (27.8) 10 (8.7)
Marital status
Not married 429 (49.7) 74 (17.2) 163 (38.0) 149 (34.7) 43 (10.0)
Married 394 (45.6) 74 (18.8) 162 (41.1) 125 (31.7) 33 (8.4)
Separated/Divorced 21 (2.4) 4 (19.0) 12 (57.1) 4 (19.0) 1 (4.8)
Widowed 20 (2.3) 2 (10.0) 10 (50.0) 6 (30.0) 2 (10.0)
Income
Below RM3000 (including no income) 510 (59.4) 88 (17.3) 220 (43.1) 162 (31.8) 40 (7.8)
RM3001–RM9000 293 (34.1) 58 (19.8) 105 (35.8) 99 (33.8) 31 (10.6)
≥RM9001 55 (6.4) 7 (12.7) 20 (36.4) 20 (36.4) 8 (14.5)
Exercise (days a week)
0–2 days 347(40.1) 85 (24.5) 130 (37.5) 111 (32.0) 21 (6.1)
More than 2 days a week 519 (59.9) 69 (13.3) 218 (42.0) 174 (33.5) 58 (11.2)
Health Problems
1 and more than 1 disease 219 (25.3) 42 (19.2) 84 (38.4) 76 (34.7) 17 (7.8)
No disease 646 (74.7) 17.3 (17.3) 40.9 (40.9) 32.2 (32.2) 9.6 (9.6)
Health status
Bad 248 (28.7) 70 (28.2) 105 (42.3) 61 (24.6) 12 (4.8)
Good 617 (71.3) 84 (13.6) 242 (39.2) 224 (36.3) 67(10.9)