Health Literacy on COVID-19 among Older Adults in South-South Nigeria

Abstract

The aged is one of the most vulnerable cohorts of the COVID-19 pandemic; consequently to curb the spread of the virus public health knowledge is central. This study examines the sources of learning about COVID-19 pandemic, level of knowledge/awareness on the pandemic, and to ascertain if there is variation in the level of knowledge among older adults in South-South Nigeria on the basis of income, gender, education and marital status. The study was carried out in Port Harcourt Metropolis, Nigeria. Using analytical descriptive survey research design, older adults from 60 years and above were randomly selected. The instrument used was a structure questionnaire and an assessment test on Knowledge of COVID-19. Percentage, Mean, range, Standard deviation and ANOVA were used in analyzing the data collected.  The study reveals that radio and television were the major sources of learning about Covid-19 among older adults, that their level of awareness of the symptoms of the disease is poor, moderate in prevention of community spread and basic management of patients with the virus. The study also reveals that there is variation in the level of awareness on the basis of income, while no variation was found in terms of gender, education and marital status. From the findings, it was concluded that radio and television were the dominant source of information on health literacy among the older adults and there is an association between level of level of awareness of COVID-19 and level of income of older adults.