A - 7 An Examination of the Predictive Roles of Healthy Literacy and Age in Online and Print Health Information Search Performance among Older Adults

Abstract Objective As older adults increasingly seek health information online, evaluating complex technology-based everyday behaviors is important. This study examined the predictive roles of health literacy and age in health information search accuracy across online and print sources. Methods Participants were 96 community-dwelling older adults (age: M = 70.09, SD = 8.69; education: M = 16.57, SD = 2.14; 75% female; 96.88% White). Participants completed the Newest Vital Sign, a health literacy measure that required participants to interpret verbal and numerical information on a nutrition label, and a health search task (HST), which examined the ability to navigate web and print sources to search for health information. Results A multiple regression was conducted in which HST accuracy was regressed onto health literacy and age for web and print subtasks separately. Cognitive status (MoCA total score) was a covariate. Although health literacy was not a significant predictor of HST accuracy, age was a significant predictor for the web-based subtask, β = −0.29, b = −0.05, SEb = 0.02, 95% CI [−0.08, −0.02], t(92) = −2.94, p = 0.004, and cognitive status for the print-based subtask, β = 0.36, b = 0.18, SEb = 0.05, 95% CI [0.08, −0.28], t(92) = 3.50, p = 0.001. Conclusions Compared to health literacy, age and cognitive status were stronger predictors of health information search performance across online and print sources in community-dwelling older adults. Future studies should consider the impact of age and comfort with technology in examining older adults’ ability to successfully navigate online health sources.