Patient-reported health literacy and numeracy among new patients seeking consultation at a comprehensive cancer center.

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. 7038-7038
Author(s):  
Nadine Jackson McCleary ◽  
Jessica Cleveland ◽  
Sunyi Zhang ◽  
Eva M. Lepisto ◽  
Sherry Lee ◽  
...  

7038 Background: Health literacy and numeracy are essential for patients to make informed cancer treatment decisions. Oncologists do not typically evaluate literacy and numeracy and vary in their ability to adapt health discussions to meet patients’ needs. Systematic ascertainment of literacy and numeracy may provide oncologists with useful information to help guide initial oncology consultations. Methods: We deploy an electronic new patient intake questionnaire (NPIQ) that includes health literacy and numeracy, basic demographics and cancer risk screening. Patients are considered to have limited health literacy and/or numeracy if they respond with either “somewhat”, “a little bit” or “not at all” to a single question: “How confident are you filling out medical forms?” or “How confident are you in understanding medical statistics?” respectively. Results: Between January 2018 and August 2019, 8418 (24.6%) of patients presenting for a new patient consultation responded to the NPIQ. Among respondents with non-missing data, limited health literacy was reported by 19.4% respondents with 13.9% reporting “not at all” and 33.1% reporting “not at all” or only “a little bit” of confidence completing medical forms. Limited health numeracy was reported by 33.2% respondents with 9.1% reporting “not at all”. Nearly 20% of respondents reported both limited health literacy and numeracy. Patients reporting lack of confidence completing medical forms or understanding medical statistics were older (20.3%, 30.7% ³ 70 years old), male (20.2%, 30.1%), and non-white (21.3%, 32.1%). Conclusions: A substantial proportion of cancer patients report lack of confidence in their ability to complete medical forms or understand medical statistics, potentially limiting the ability to actively engage in shared decision-making. Prospective identification of these social determinants of health prior to consultations may provide oncologists with information necessary to tailor health discussions and to provide materials that promote understanding and informed decision-making. [Table: see text]

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1176.2-1176
Author(s):  
E. Eraslan ◽  
R. Bilici Salman ◽  
H. Satiş ◽  
A. Avanoglu Guler ◽  
H. Karadeniz ◽  
...  

Background:Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology that can affect any organ of the body. SLE is associated with adverse effects on both health and non-health-related quality of life (HRQOL and non-HRQOL). Lupus PRO is a patient reported outcome measure that has been validated in many languages. It has 44 items that cover both HRQOL and non-HRQOL (1). Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions. Multiple studies indicate that people with limited health literacy have worse health status and higher rates of hospitalization (2).Objectives:We aimed to evaluate the relationship between the LLDAS (Lupus Low Disease Activity State) criteria and the Lupus PRO test, as well as the health literacy status of lupus patients.Methods:83 SLE patients (94% women) were included in the study. We performed Lupus PRO and the European Health Literacy Survey tests during the routine follow-up visits of lupus patients to our rheumatology outpatient clinic and admissions to rheumatology inpatient clinic. Available clinical data on medical records were obtained, physician global assessments (PGA) were recorded by the attending physician.Results:LLDAS criteria strongly and inversely correlated with the total score, as well as the mood subunit of the Lupus PRO. Similarly, it also significantly inversely correlated with the body appearence and goals subunits. Health literacy status of the patients did not correlate with their LLDAS scores, ie their disease activities.Conclusion:Our results suggest that lupus disease activity, assessed by LLDAS criteria, significantly correlates with measures of quality of life, spesicifically Lupus PRO test, but not with health literacy status. Further studies are needed to evaluate if health literacy is related with damage, hospitalization or mortality associated with lupus.References:[1]Jolly M, Pickard AS, Block JA, Kumar RB, Mikolaitis RA, Wilke CT, et al., editors. Disease-specific patient reported outcome tools for systemic lupus erythematosus. Seminars in arthritis and rheumatism; 2012: Elsevier.[2]Paasche-Orlow MK, Parker RM, Gazmararian JA, Nielsen-Bohlman LT, Rudd RR. The prevalence of limited health literacy. Journal of general internal medicine. 2005;20(2):175-84.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 204-212 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren K Tormey ◽  
Jason Reich ◽  
Yu Sarah Chen ◽  
Arush Singh ◽  
Zachary Lipkin-Moore ◽  
...  

2014 ◽  
Vol 41 (7) ◽  
pp. 1290-1297 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Barton ◽  
Laura Trupin ◽  
Chris Tonner ◽  
John Imboden ◽  
Patricia Katz ◽  
...  

Objective.Treat-to-target guidelines promote shared decision making (SDM) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Also, because of high cost and potential toxicity of therapies, SDM is central to patient safety. Our objective was to examine patterns of perceived communication around decision making in 2 cohorts of adults with RA.Methods.Data were derived from patients enrolled in 1 of 2 longitudinal, observational cohorts [University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) RA Cohort and RA Panel Cohort]. Subjects completed a telephone interview in their preferred language that included a measure of patient-provider communication, including items about decision making. Measures of trust in physician, education, and language proficiency were also asked. Logistic regression was performed to identify correlates of suboptimal SDM communication. Analyses were performed on each sample separately.Results.Of 509 patients across 2 cohorts, 30% and 32% reported suboptimal SDM communication. Low trust in physician was independently associated with suboptimal SDM communication in both cohorts. Older age and limited English proficiency were independently associated with suboptimal SDM in the UCSF RA Cohort, as was limited health literacy in the RA Panel Cohort.Conclusion.This study of over 500 adults with RA from 2 demographically distinct cohorts found that nearly one-third of subjects report suboptimal SDM communication with their clinicians, regardless of cohort. Lower trust in physician was independently associated with suboptimal SDM communication in both cohorts, as was limited English language proficiency and older age in the UCSF RA Cohort and limited health literacy in the RA Panel Cohort. These findings underscore the need to examine the influence of SDM on health outcomes in RA.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e17053-e17053
Author(s):  
Brandon S. Imber ◽  
Amy L. Tin ◽  
Andrew Vickers ◽  
James Andrew Eastham ◽  
Michael J. Zelefsky ◽  
...  

e17053 Background: Cancer patients’ potential for severe financial toxicity (FT) is well-established, however there is limited data on the magnitude of this challenge associated with treatment of localized prostate cancer (PC). The extent to which men consider potential financial implications prior to selection of a treatment strategy remains poorly understood. Methods: Between 5/2020-10/2020, 1233 insured PC patients treated at a comprehensive cancer center completed a one-time FT survey which included the COmprehensive Score for financial Toxicity (COST) instrument, impressions of PC costs and financial coping strategies. Inclusion criteria was localized disease and treatment with either radical prostatectomy (RP) or definitive radiotherapy (RT) in the previous 4-26 months (mo) or at least 6mo of active surveillance (AS) prior to survey. To assess possible temporal differences in FT, responses were grouped into 6, 12, 18 and 24 months after treatment start, and we plotted COST against time, using generalized additive models to allow for non-linearity. Results: Overall, 988 men were eligible for analysis: 347 (35%) underwent RP, 384 (39%) underwent RT, and 257 (26%) were on AS. The median age at survey completion was 67 years (quartiles 62, 72). Men were predominantly white (89%), English-speakers (99%) and married (84%). The median (quartiles) COST score for all patients was 33 (26, 38) with possible range of 0-44 with lower scores indicating greater FT; median values were identical with similar quartiles (+/- 1 point) when stratified by treatment type. There were no significant changes in median COST between men surveyed at the four time points for any treatment subgroup. In total, 66 men (7.1%) reported spending > 20% of annual income on treatment and 10% felt that PC has created at least somewhat of a financial hardship for their family. Top drivers of burdensome cost included medical bills (37%) and transportation costs (21%). Most (83%) reported giving little or no consideration to possible costs prior to making a PC treatment decision, yet the majority (77%) felt that out of pocket costs should be communicated to a patient prior to decision making. Most believed patients should definitely (46%) or possibly (33%) have the opportunity to discuss financial concerns with the radiation oncologist or urologist. Conclusions: Our study is the first reported use of the COST instrument to assess subjective financial distress in localized PC patients. Our results demonstrate that the overall degree of FT in this cohort of insured patients treated at a specialized cancer center is low. While potential financial burden does not strongly influence treatment decision making in this cohort, most want this information and an opportunity to discuss financial concerns with their oncologist. Next steps include identification of predictors for high FT risk and extension of our survey to hospital systems with differing demographic profiles.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 1403-1409 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard T. Griffey ◽  
Candace D. McNaughton ◽  
Danielle M. McCarthy ◽  
Erica Shelton ◽  
Ana Castaneda-Guarderas ◽  
...  

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