An Evaluation of Health Numeracy among Radiation Therapists and Dosimetrists

Background: Patients referred for solid organ transplant with limited health literacy have been shown to be less likely to have access to transplantation. We examined the association between health literacy, health numeracy and post-transplant clinical outcomes (i.e. graft failure, non-adherence, readmissions, self-efficacy, or mortality). Methods: A search of Medline for publications during the period January 1946 to July 2016 that examined health literacy, numeracy, and outcomes of transplant recipients. Titles and abstracts were independently examined by three reviewers for exclusion, and the full-text was then reviewed for inclusion. Results: Of 247 citations, 12 met inclusion criteria including one review article and five randomized control trials (RCTs). Health literacy of recipients was measured using Newest Vital Sign (NVS) (n=2), Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (STOHFLA) (n=2), Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM-T) (n=1), and other knowledge questionnaires (n=5). Level of formal education was also examined as an assay of health literacy (n=3). Post-transplant outcomes were assessed through medication adherence (n=4), skin cancer incidence (n=2), graft loss (n=1), recipient mortality (n=1), kidney function (n=1), health-related quality of life (n=1), and self-efficacy (n=1). Eleven citations found limited health literacy to be associated with adverse post-transplant clinical outcomes, and one citation found no association between health literacy and non-adherence. Health numeracy was not studied in any of the citations. Conclusion: Health literacy is negatively associated with adverse post-transplant clinical outcomes. Future studies should analyze the association between health numeracy and clinical outcomes after transplant.

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Examining attitudes toward and ability to interact with an online personal health record: A case study in Saudi Arabia

International Journal of Healthcare ◽

10.5430/ijh.v6n1p1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 1 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Bandar Faisal Al-Mifgai ◽

Joseph Sharit ◽

Arzu Onar-Thomas ◽

Shihab Asfour

Keyword(s):

Saudi Arabia ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Systems ◽

Health Management ◽

Personal Health Record ◽

The Internet ◽

Personal Health ◽

Health Record ◽

Health Numeracy ◽

Electronic Health

Objective: This study examined the ability for adults from a developing country to use a personal health record (PHR) to perform health-management tasks. The effects of gender differences as well as differences in attitudes about using the internet to manage health prior to and after exposure to the PHR were also investigated.Methods: A simulation of a PHR based on a well-established U.S. online patient portal was designed and tailored for this particular study population. Two hundred and three adults with a mean age of 40.9 years were recruited from various areas in Saudi Arabia and asked to perform seven common health-management tasks of varying degrees of difficulty. Their electronic health literacy and health numeracy, as well as their attitudes about using online health systems for managing their health prior to and following their interaction with the PHR, were assessed using questionnaires.Results: After controlling for education, perceived health status, and comfort using the internet, electronic health literacy and health numeracy were still found to be significant predictors of participants’ task performance, but only for the more challenging health-management tasks. No important differences based on gender were found. Exposure to the PHR significantly increased the acceptability of using the internet for managing their health.Conclusions: The change in attitudes following interaction with the PHR suggests that many adults in this society could benefit from these electronic health systems, including females who, due to cultural considerations, may desire greater control in managing their health. However, the importance of electronic health literacy and health numeracy suggests the need for designs that minimize the impact of these factors for successful performance of health-management tasks.

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A256 The Influence of Health Literacy and Health Numeracy on Weight Loss Outcomes Following Bariatric Surgery

Surgery for Obesity and Related Diseases ◽

10.1016/j.soard.2019.08.201 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 15 (10) ◽

pp. S94

Author(s):

Lisa Miller-Matero ◽

Leah Hecht ◽

Kellie Martens ◽

Aaron Hamann ◽

Arthur Carlin

Keyword(s):

Bariatric Surgery ◽

Weight Loss ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Numeracy ◽

Weight Loss Outcomes

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Health Numeracy Confidence among Racial/ Ethnica Minorities in HINTS 2007: Sociodemographic, Attitudinal, and Knowledge Correlates

Literacy and Numeracy Studies ◽

10.5130/lns.v20i2.3082 ◽

1970 ◽

Vol 20 (2) ◽

pp. 3-16 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Hong Huang ◽

Yiu Ming Chan ◽

Dong Feng

Keyword(s):

Racial Differences ◽

Ethnic Disparities ◽

Racial And Ethnic Disparities ◽

Culturally Appropriate ◽

Medical Decisions ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Health Numeracy ◽

Lower Health ◽

Nationally Representative ◽

National Trends

Health numeracy skills help people interpret health risks, and make effective medical decisions. Lower health numeracy confidence was observed for blacks and Hispanic groups than whites. Little is known about the important factors that explain racial differences in health numeracy confidence. For this study, we used a nationally representative, cross-sectional data sample of 4,610 U.S. adults from the National Cancer Institute’s 2007 Health Information National Trends Survey. Bivariate (Chi-squares) and multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to identify the contribution factors that predict health numeracy confidence.Non-linear Fairlie decompositions were used to quantify the factor contributions to racial differences in health numeracy confidence. The priority rankings of the important factors to explain the health numeracy confidence racial and ethnic disparities are different depending on the particular racial and ethnic group. Diverse, culturally appropriate approaches are needed to improve numeracy confidence for specific racial and ethnic groups.

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