Aging & Social Change: Ninth Interdisciplinary Conference

Abstract

The relationship between the socio-demographic characteristics of the elderly and healthcare utilisation, is well established; however the process underlying this relationship is poorly understood. A cross-sectional study was conducted to examine the mediating effect of health literacy on the relationship between age and healthcare utilisation. Elderly (n=477) were recruited in 14 public hospitals in Malaysia. The findings reveal that the relationship between age and healthcare utilisation was mediated by health literacy. The findings from the present research help to improve the understanding of healthcare utilisation among the elderly people in Malaysia which are beneficial to the policy makers and practitioners.