Hirono Ishikawa|Mio Kato|Takahiro Kiuchi
Declines in health literacy and health-related quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic: a longitudinal study of the Japanese general population
Teikyo University|Teikyo University|The University of Tokyo
abstract background coronavirus disease 2019 covid19 pandemic importance health literacy hl addressed public health researchers longitudinally examined changes general hl healthrelated quality life hrqol immediately covid19 outbreak 1 year later general hl outbreak related changes hrqol japanese general population methods among japanese residents aged 2079 years participated previous study 2017 826 followedup via selfadministered questionnaires january 2020 february 2021 purposes study hrqol measured using sf8 short version sf36 health survey general hl measured using short form european health literacy survey questionnaire hlsf12 2020 2021 surveys results physical mental dimensions hrqol well general hl declined significantly immediately covid19 outbreak 1 year later p 010 p lt 001 p lt 001 respectively decline hrqol especially mental dimension significant among women lower economic status also related greater decline hrqol p 026 physical dimension p 012 mental dimension higher general hl covid19 outbreak associated lesser decline hrqol physical mental dimensions p 040 p lt 001 respectively controlling possible confounding variables gender economic status conclusions healthcare support crucial vulnerable populations pandemic general hl may important attenuating decline hrqol enabling effective use health information adaptive behaviors toward health threats studies needed better understand association hl hrqol