This report focuses on a study that addresses the role of health literacy in the challenges surrounding aging. The study was conducted among n=533 public employees ages 40 to 60 years old in Johor state, Malaysia. The validated Malay version of World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL-BREF) and the Short-Form Health Literacy Instrument (HLS-SF12) were used to assess perceived quality of life and general health literacy respectively. The WHOQOL-BREF comprises 26 items with six outcomes and the HLS-SF12 consists 12 items. This study provides an overview of participant quality of life, which was operationalized as a precondition of active aging. The participants' preconditions related to active aging were worrisome as 28% perceived their quality of life as poor and 34% were dissatisfied with their health. More positively, health literacy was found to be a significant determinant that may enable active aging.
Increasing life expectancy has led to a global rise in late-life diseases. Quality of Life (QOL) is important for healthy life expectancy. The active ageing framework serves as a guide for policymakers to design policies that enhance the QOL of older people. This study aims to determine the association between awareness of active ageing and QOL. The Malay version of the 26-item WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was utilised along with the 14-item Active Ageing Awareness Questionnaire (AAAQ). A total of 532 participants had a mean (SD) age of 50.2 (5.9), were largely ethnic Malay (96.2%), female (52.8%), and comprised largely of low-income households (65.4%). The median (IQR) AAAQ score was 71.4 (19.1). The hierarchical multiple regression analysis revealed significant positive association between AAAQ and the QOL domains of physical (β = 0.154, p < 0.001), psychological (β = 0.196, p < 0.001), social relationship (β = 0.175, p < 0.001), and environment (β = 0.145, p < 0.001) after adjusting for all covariates. Awareness of active ageing was found to have a positive effect on all domains of QOL among pre-elder employees, and thus, we recommend that policies to improve active ageing awareness should be implemented for healthy life expectancy in ageing populations.