Dataset Information

Health literacy, cognitive ability and smoking: a cross-sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

ABSTRACT:

Objectives

We used logistic regression to investigate whether health literacy and cognitive ability independently predicted whether participants have ever smoked and, in ever smokers, whether participants still smoked nowadays.

Design

Cross-sectional study.

Setting

This study used data from Wave 2 (2004-05) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which is a cohort study of adults who live in England and who, at baseline, were aged 50 years and older.

Participants

8734 (mean age=65.31 years, SD=10.18) English Longitudinal Study of Ageing participants who answered questions about their current and past smoking status, and completed cognitive ability and health literacy tests at Wave 2.

Primary and secondary outcome measures

The primary outcome measures were whether participants reported ever smoking at Wave 2 and whether ever smokers reported still smoking at Wave 2.

Results

In models adjusting for age, sex, age left full-time education and occupational social class, limited health literacy (OR=1.096, 95%?CI 0.988 to 1.216) and higher general cognitive ability (OR=1.000, 95%?CI 0.945 to 1.057) were not associated with reporting ever smoking. In ever smokers, limited compared with adequate health literacy was associated with greater odds of being a current smoker (OR=1.194, 95%?CI 1.034 to 1.378) and a 1 SD higher general cognitive ability score was associated with reduced odds of being a current smoker (OR=0.878, 95%?CI 0.810 to 0.951), when adjusting for age, sex, age left full-time education and occupational social class.

Conclusions

When adjusting for education and occupation variables, this study found that health literacy and cognitive ability were independently associated with whether ever smokers continued to smoke nowadays, but not with whether participants had ever smoked.

SUBMITTER: Fawns-Ritchie C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6224719 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Health literacy, cognitive ability and smoking: a cross-sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Fawns-Ritchie Chloe C Starr John M JM Deary Ian J IJ

BMJ open 20181027 10

<h4>Objectives</h4>We used logistic regression to investigate whether health literacy and cognitive ability independently predicted whether participants have ever smoked and, in ever smokers, whether participants still smoked nowadays.<h4>Design</h4>Cross-sectional study.<h4>Setting</h4>This study used data from Wave 2 (2004-05) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, which is a cohort study of adults who live in England and who, at baseline, were aged 50 years and older.<h4>Participants</h ...[more]

PMID: 30368451

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Project description:BackgroundResearch into men and masculinities suggests men may be more reluctant than women to state they are lonely, more reliant on partners/spouses and/or alcohol to tackle it, and that this may be a result of poorer social relationships. Ageing is often associated with loneliness, and research has indicated gendered results in older people, but existing evidence lacks generalisability and cultural context. This study tests hypotheses on sex differences in loneliness in older England-based men and women.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study using a sample of 6936 respondents aged 50 + from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (wave 8). Multiple imputation with chained equations was conducted to handle missing data. Multivariate regression was used to investigate the impact of sex on a direct question on loneliness whilst controlling for the University of California loneliness (UCLA) scale. Multivariate regression with interaction terms were used to examine sex differences in loneliness and alcohol consumption, partner status, and social relationships.ResultsOlder men were less likely than older women to state they are lonely even when controlling for UCLA score. Older men showed a greater association between loneliness and alcohol consumption, but only when measuring the number of units consumed in the last week, and not using a less precise measure of the past year. Older men who cohabited with a partner were less lonely than cohabiting older women, whereas previously married but not cohabiting older men were lonelier than their female counterparts. However, never married older men were less lonely than never married older women. Evidence was found to suggests older men's worse friendships mediated this association, but social isolation and number of close relationships did not. Severe isolation predicted greater loneliness in older women, but not older men.ConclusionsCultural ideals of masculinity and older men's poorer quality friendships may explain their reluctance to directly state loneliness, greater dependency on partners/spouses, and use of alcohol. Severely isolated older men may under-report loneliness on the UCLA scale as well as a direct question.

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Dataset Information

Health literacy, cognitive ability and smoking: a cross-sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Objectives

Design

Setting

Participants

Primary and secondary outcome measures

Results

Conclusions

Publications

Health literacy, cognitive ability and smoking: a cross-sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Similar Datasets

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