Slovak Public Health Association

BackgroundDepression and anxiety are the emotional problems most frequently experienced by older adults. These mental health challenges can influence an individual's ability at finding, evaluating, and applying electronic health information to health problems. Thus, we aimed to examine associations of digital health literacy (DHL) with education, depression, and anxiety among older adults in Slovakia.MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted among 101 adults aged 55 years and over (40.6% from 60 to 64 years, 85.1% of women, 54.5% with secondary education). DHL, depressive symptoms, and anxiety level were measured using the self-reported eHealth Literacy Scale (eHEALS), Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) and Generalised Anxiety Disorder scale (GAD-7), respectively. Multiple linear regressions were performed to explore the role of education and mental health characteristics in DHL controlling for age and sex.ResultsThe vast majority of sample (92.1%) used the internet within the last 3 months and 67.3% used it to search for health-related information. The mean eHealth literacy score achieved 29.82 ± 6.78. Higher DHL was significantly associated with higher education (β = 0.31, p < 0.01) and it remained significant (β = 0.34, p < 0.001) after adding the mental health characteristics. Higher DHL was significantly associated with lower depressive symptomatology (β=-0.37, p < 0.01) and higher anxiety level (β = 0.33, p < 0.05). The final model explained 13.2% of the variance in DHL.ConclusionsPreliminary findings suggest that those seeking to decrease the DHL disparities among older adults may benefit from tailoring interventions towards those with lower education. Furthermore, the study underscores the need for integrated interventions, such as mental health support combined with digital literacy education, to enhance health outcomes among aging population. Further research is needed to uncover the relationship between higher anxiety level and higher DHL. [VEGA 1/0097/24].Key messages• Emotional problems seem to be significant contributors to digital health literacy of older adults.• Mental health support should be incorporated into the digital literacy intervention programs for older adults.

Self-rated health is a valid and reliable subjective indicator of general health. We aimed to assess the associations between self-rated health, mental health problems, physical activity, sedentary behaviour and BMI among Slovak urban adolescents. Data were collected within the EU-FP7: EURO-URHIS 2 (The European Health Indicator System Part 2) project in two largest Slovak cities: Bratislava and Kosice. Sample included 1111 adolescents (response rate 73.7%, mean age 14.32 ± 0.48 years, 52.8% boys). Self-rated health was measured with the first item from the Short Form Health Survey 36 questionnaire, mental health problems were assessed by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire and for physical activity and sedentary behaviour questions from the WHO HBSC questionnaire were used. Logistic regression was performed to determine the associations between self-rated health and the independent variables. Self-rated health was found to be significantly associated with mental health problems, sedentary behaviour and BMI. However, the strongest association was found with engagement in physical activity every day (OR 8.0; 95% CI 1.6-39.9). Previous research revealed that self-rated health was associated with various mental health problems. Our findings add to these results by showing that physical activity and sedentary behaviour are also very important additional factors related to self-rated health. Better understanding of these associations can help in developing more effective public health intervention programmes for adolescents.

Background: Previous research has revealed a clear relationship between weight gain of persons and their metabolic diseases developing later. These studies have covered only short periods lasting 4-8 years.Our goal was to collect decades' old and often life-long anthropometric data and correlate the figures with the presence of hypertension and diabetes or both. Methods: A retrospective international study was planned and organized to compare self-recorded data of lifelong weight gain among 60-70-year-old patients, analyze their correlation with metabolic diseases they developed, with special attention to women's weight gain around pregnancy, delivery and menopause in primary care settings in Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovakia and the Ukraine. Results: Of the recruited 815 participants, 319 men and 496 women presented all the required data. Diabetics of both genders had the highest baseline weight at 20 years of age. The weight and BMI of the whole study population increased steadily until their seventies, but to a lesser extent after their fifties. Compared to the control group, changes over decades were the greatest among diabetics and also greater among patients with hypertension. Weight increase in the first decades (20-30-year-old men and 30-40-year-old women) was a significant risk factor for the development of diabetes (OR=1.044; p=0.002; 95% CI: 1.01-1.07). Among patients with diabetes and hypertension, both diagnoses were set up earlier than among those with a single morbidity.Among females, weight increase around pregnancy and menopause correlated significantly with higher odds for the diagnoses of diabetes and/or hypertension, irrespective of the number of children. Conclusions: During their decade-long relationship with their patients, family physicians are expected to identify the higher weight gain of their patients, especially among younger generation and intervene, if necessary.