Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community

Janrak Nontakan, Chatiketu Piyanart, Wanichsaithong Pinpinut, Nirunsittirat Areerat

Published Online: Jan 26, 2023 DOI 10.12982/CMDENTJ.2023.004

Objectives: This community-based cross-sectional study aimed to examine health information seeking behavior regarding oral health and oral health literacy and their relationship in older adults.

Methods: The research was conducted with 432 participants from the rural area of, Noen Maprang District, Phitsanulok province, Northern Thailand. To measure oral health literacy, modified Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry for Older Adults was used. The adapted questionnaire was used to collect health information seeking behavior in the past 3 months.

Results: Only 12.3% demonstrated adequate oral health literacy. Some 27.1% presented active health information seeking behavior, 57.3% presented passive health information seeking behavior and 15.6% had never obtained or sought any oral health information. The association between health information seeking behavior and oral health literacy could not be observed. Television, health personnel, family members/relatives and village health volunteers were the most popular information sources.

Conclusions: By adding oral health information and improving skills of oral health information for village health volunteers, it is possible to develop oral health literacy in older adults in rural areas.
Oral Health Literacy Older adults health information seeking behavior
  1. Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpern DJ, Crotty K. Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155(2):97-107.
  2. Cho YI, Lee SD, Arozullah AM, Crittenden KS. Effects of health literacy on health status and health service utilization amongst the elderly. Soc Sci Med. 2008;66(8):1809-16.
  3. Kim SH. Health literacy and functional health status in Korean older adults. J Clin Nurs. 2009;18(16):2337-43.
  4. Nutbeam D. Health literacy as a public health goal: a challenge for contemporary health education and communication strategies into the 21st century. Health Promot Int. 2000;15(3):259-67.
  5. Sørensen K, Van den Broucke S, Fullam J, Doyle G, Pelikan J, Slonska Z, et al. Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health. 2012;12(1):80.
  6. Lalazaryan A, Zare-Farashbandi F. A review of models and theories of health information seeking behavior. Int J Health Syst Disaster Mgmt. 2014;2(4):193-203.
  7. Shieh C, Mays R, McDaniel A, Yu J. Health literacy and its association with the use of information sources and with barriers to information seeking in clinic-based pregnant women. Health Care Women Int. 2009;30(11):971-88.
  8. Kim SH, Utz S. Association of health literacy with health information-seeking preference in older people: a correlational, descriptive study. Nurs Health Sci. 2018;20(3):355-60.
  9. Lee HY, Jin SW, Henning-Smith C, Lee J, Lee J. Role of health literacy in health-related information-seeking behavior online: cross-sectional study. J Med Internet Res. 2021;23(1):e14088.
  10. Drummond FJ, Reidy M, von Wagner C, Livingstone V, Drennan J, Murphy M, et al. Health literacy influences men's active and passive cancer information seeking. Health Lit Res Pract. 2019;3(3):e147-e60.
  11. Liu YB, Liu L, Li YF, Chen YL. Relationship between health literacy, health-related behaviors and health status: a survey of elderly Chinese. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2015;12(8):9714-25.
  12. Chowdary MS, Sudhir K, Reddy V, Kumar K, Srinivasulu G. Oral health literacy and its impact on oral health status among institutionalised elderly population. IOSR-JDMS. 2015;14(8):96-104.
  13. Gong DA, Lee JY, Rozier RG, Pahel BT, Richman JA, Vann WF, Jr. Development and testing of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Dentistry (TOFHLiD). J Public Health Dent. 2007;67(2):105-12.
  14. Wanichsaithong P, Goodwin M, Pretty IA. Development and pilot study of an oral health literacy tool for older adults. J Investig Clin Dent. 2019;10(4):e12465.
  15. Wanichsaithong P. Further validation of a dental functional health literacy for older adults (Short OA-TOFHLiD) [thesis]. Manchester, United Kingdom: The University of Manchester; 2019.)
  16. Sermsuti-Anuwat N, Piyakhunakorn P. Association between oral health literacy and number of remaining teeth among the Thai elderly: a cross-sectional study. Clin Cosmet Investig Dent. 2021;13:113-9.
  17. Wanichsaithong P, Goodwin M, Pretty I. Oral health status of Thai older adults with different oral health literacy levels. CM Dent J. 2021;42(2):104-13.
  18. Keeddee C, Mongkolnchai-arunya S, Pochanukul N, Jintakanon P, Sukhumalind P. The 8th national oral health survey 2017 of Thailand. Bangkok: Bureau of Dental health, Department of Health, Ministry of Public Health; 2018
  19. Poluation Standards Report Group [Internet]. 2019 [cited 2019 Jun 4]. Available from: https://hdcservice.moph.go.th/hdc/main/index.php
  20. Tenani CF, De Checchi MHR, Bado FMR, Ju X, Jamieson L, Mialhe FL. Influence of oral health literacy on dissatisfaction with oral health among older people. Gerodontology. 2020;37(1):46-52.
  21. Polpichit P, Vongprasert C. Health information culture in Thai rural community. JLISSWU. 2017;10(2):63-77.
  22. Kauffman KS, Myers DH. The changing role of village health volunteers in northeast Thailand: an ethnographic field study. Int J Nurs Stud. 1997;34(4):249-55.
  23. Liu YB, Hou P, Xue HP, Mao XE, Li YN. Social support, health literacy, and health care utilization among older adults. Asia Pac J Public Health. 2019;31(4):359-66.
  24. Trainattawan W, Wirojratana V, Watanakukrilert D. Factors influencing health literacy among older adults. JHSR. 2019;13(2):41-51.
  25. Phisanwut N, Nompitakcharoen T, Nimanong T, Bunnak N, Thiangtham A. Thailand Internet User Behavior 2020. Bangkok: Electronic Transactions Development Agency; 2020
  26. Kheokao J, Ubolwan K, Tipkanjanaraykha K, Plodpluang U. Online health information seeking behaviors among the Thai elderly netizens. TLA Research Journal. 2019;12(1):60-76.
  27. Oh YS, Choi EY, Kim YS. Predictors of smartphone uses for health information seeking in the Korean elderly. Soc Work Public Health. 2018;33(1):43-54.
  28. Zhao D. Exploring older adults' health information seeking behavior: evidence from urban China. Proc Assoc Inf Sci Technol. 2019;56(1):847-8.

Janrak N, Chatiketu P, Wanichsaithong P, Nirunsittirat A. Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community: Original articles. CM Dent J [Internet]. 2023 Jan 26 [cited 2024 Nov 18];44(1):37-45. Available from: https://www.dent.cmu.ac.th/cmdj/frontend/web/?r=site/viewarticle&id=195

Janrak, N., Chatiketu, P., Wanichsaithong, P. & Nirunsittirat, A. (2023). Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community. CM Dent J, 44(1), 37-45. Retrieved from: https://www.dent.cmu.ac.th/cmdj/frontend/web/?r=site/viewarticle&id=195

Janrak, N., Chatiketu Piyanart,Wanichsaithong Pinpinut and Nirunsittirat Areerat. 2023. "Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community." CM Dent J, 44(1), 37-45. https://www.dent.cmu.ac.th/cmdj/frontend/web/?r=site/viewarticle&id=195

Janrak, N. et al. 2023. 'Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community', CM Dent J, 44(1), 37-45. Retrieved from https://www.dent.cmu.ac.th/cmdj/frontend/web/?r=site/viewarticle&id=195

Janrak, N., Chatiketu, P., Wanichsaithong, P. and Nirunsittirat, A. "Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community", CM Dent J, vol.44, no. 1, pp. 37-45, Jan. 2023.

Janrak, N., Chatiketu, P., Wanichsaithong, P., et al. "Oral Health Literacy and Health Seeking Behavior of Older Adults in Rural Community." CM Dent J, vol.44, no. 1, Jan. 2023, pp. 37-45, https://www.dent.cmu.ac.th/cmdj/frontend/web/?r=site/viewarticle&id=195