Table 3 Relationships of geographic and sociodemographic factors with health literacy

Age (ref: 70-)

 20–39

0.173

0.051

0.001

 40–54

0.225

0.047

 < 0.001

 55–69

0.198

0.045

 < 0.001

Gender (ref: male)

0.064

0.027

0.017

Educational attainment

0.124

0.016

 < 0.001

Household income

0.032

0.011

0.003

Marital status (ref: not currently married)

0.067

0.034

0.047

Employment status (ref: Not employed)

 Employed (Managerial and professional)

0.117

0.039

0.003

 Employed (other)

0.032

0.035

0.373

Municipality size (ref: Smaller cities)

 21 major cities

0.028

0.034

0.414

 Other large cities

-0.020

0.039

0.609

 Towns and villages

-0.063

0.054

0.247

Area (ref: Kanto)

 Hokkaido/Tohoku

-0.022

0.060

0.710

 Chubu

-0.110

0.039

0.005

 Kinki

-0.003

0.039

0.945

 Chugoku/Shikoku

-0.051

0.044

0.241

 Kyusyu

-0.005

0.055

0.925

 Constant

2.650

0.089

 < 0.001

 R-squared

0.091