Impact of patients’ judgment skills on asthma self-management: a pilot study

Background. The majority of current health literacy tools assess functional skills including reading, writing, and numeracy. Although these tools have been able to underline the impact of such skills on individuals’ health behaviour, there is a need for comprehensive measures to examine more advanced skills. The individual’s ability to use health-related information considering his/her own health context, and judging positive and negative consequences of their decisions has been conceptualized as judgment skills. The present study used a newly developed judgment skills tool to explore asthma self-management practices. Design and methods. Eighty asthma patients were recruited from medical offices during the year 2013. The questionnaire was self-administered and contained health literacy questions, the judgment skill tool, the Asthma Control Test, and several self-management questions. Results. Sixty-nine percent of participants had adequate health literacy, while 24% and 5% had marginal and inadequate levels, respectively. The high-judgment group referred more to their doctor when experiencing asthma problems t(76)=−2.18, P<0.032; complied more with the use of their control medicine t(77)=−3.24, P<0.002 and went more regularly to the doctor t(78)=−1.80, P<0.038 (one-tailed) than the low-judgment group. Conclusions. The judgment skills tool can help identify asthma patients’ health information use and reveal how this use may affect some self-management practices.

Download Full-text

Influence of Health Literacy on HRQoL in Patients After PCI

Western Journal of Nursing Research ◽

10.1177/0193945916653104 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 38 (12) ◽

pp. 1611-1626 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Youn-Jung Son ◽

Hye Yon Yu

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Coronary Intervention ◽

Medication Knowledge ◽

Adequate Health Literacy ◽

Adverse Health Outcomes ◽

Percutaneous Coronary ◽

Related Quality ◽

Health Related ◽

The Impact

Among increased concerns about the adverse health outcomes of inadequate health literacy, it still remains unclear how health literacy influences health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of patients who have undergone percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI). Therefore, the aim of the study was to examine the impact of health literacy on HRQoL in PCI patients at 6 months after discharge. This study used a self-reported questionnaire to assess health literacy, medication knowledge, and HRQoL in 238 patients. In hierarchical linear regression, health literacy was the strongest predictor of HRQoL after adjusting confounding factors (β = .23, p = .003). In addition, this study showed that medication knowledge acted as a partial mediator between health literacy and HRQoL. In conclusion, adequate health literacy is a contributing factor to better HRQoL in patients after PCI, and health literacy can lead to improved HRQoL in PCI patients through the acquisition of sufficient medication knowledge.

Download Full-text

Using the Brief Health Literacy Screen in Chronic Care in French Hospital Settings: Content Validity of Patient and Healthcare Professional Reports

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18010096 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

pp. 96

Author(s):

Adèle Perrin ◽

Luiza Siqueira do Prado ◽

Amélie Duché ◽

Anne-Marie Schott ◽

Alexandra L. Dima ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Content Validity ◽

Chronic Care ◽

Routine Care ◽

Related Information ◽

Concept Of Health ◽

Patient Reported ◽

Centered Care ◽

Health Related ◽

French Hospital

Person-centered care has led healthcare professionals (HCPs) to be more attentive to patients’ ability to understand and apply health-related information, especially those with chronic conditions. The concept of health literacy (HL) is essential in understanding patients’ needs in routine care, but its measurement is still controversial, and few tools are validated in French. We therefore considered the brief health literacy screen (BHLS) for assessing patient-reported HL in chronic care settings, and also developed an HCP-reported version of the BHLS with the aim of using it as a research instrument to assess HCPs’ evaluation of patients’ HL levels. We assessed the content validity of the French translation of both the patient-reported and HCP-reported BHLS in chronic care within hospital settings, through cognitive interviews with patients and HCPs. We performed qualitative analysis on interview data using the survey response Tourangeau model. Our results show that the BHLS is easy and quick to administer, but some terms need to be adapted to the French chronic care settings. Health-related information was observed to be mainly communicated orally, hence a useful direction for future literacy measures would be to also address verbal HL.

Download Full-text

Promotion of Elementary School Students’ Health Literacy

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17249560 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (24) ◽

pp. 9560

Author(s):

Elke Knisel ◽

Helge Rupprich ◽

Annika Wunram ◽

Markus Bremer ◽

Christiane Desaive

Keyword(s):

Physical Activity ◽

Elementary School ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Health Knowledge ◽

Rank Test ◽

School Students ◽

Related Information ◽

Signed Rank ◽

Health Related ◽

Signed Rank Test

Health literacy is an important outcome of the discussion of school-related health education and health promotion in the 21st century. Although the improvement of health literacy at an early age is increasingly recognized and few interventions show the development of children´s health literacy, still there is little research in this area. The purpose of the study was to examine the enhancement of health literacy among children in a physical activity-based program at elementary school. In total, 137 students aged 6–12 years participated in the program, which included health knowledge transfer in child-appropriate games and exercises. Participants´ health literacy was assessed using the HLS-Child-Q15-DE at the beginning and the end of the program. The instrument measures the access, understanding, appraisal and application of health-related information on a four-point Likert-type scale. As expected, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test revealed significant increases in self-reported health literacy over time. The results show that the degree of change in health literacy was not associated with gender or age. The results suggest that the physical activity-based program has the potential to improve elementary school children´s health literacy, even though in a single group pilot study.

Download Full-text

How did individual differences in neurocognition and health literacy influence the initial uptake and use of health-related information about COVID-19?

Journal of Clinical and Experimental Neuropsychology ◽

10.1080/13803395.2021.1937579 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-17

Author(s):

Michelle A. Babicz ◽

Steven Paul Woods ◽

Anastasia Matchanova ◽

Luis D. Medina ◽

Kenneth Podell ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Individual Differences ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Related Information ◽

Health Related ◽

Initial Uptake

Download Full-text

Health literacy needs among unemployed adults: Triangulating interview and scoping review data

European Journal of Public Health ◽

10.1093/eurpub/ckab164.368 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 31 (Supplement_3) ◽

Author(s):

F Samkange-Zeeb ◽

H Singh ◽

M Lakeberg ◽

J Kolschen ◽

B Schüz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Mental Health ◽

Physical Activity ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Scoping Review ◽

Mental Health Literacy ◽

Intervention Development ◽

Well Being ◽

Related Information ◽

Health Related ◽

Nutrition And Physical Activity

Abstract Disadvantaged populations, including unemployed adults, often exhibit low levels of health literacy. Exploring subjectively perceived health literacy needs in these populations can serve as an entry point for participatory intervention development. We aimed to assess health literacy needs of unemployed adults by triangulating qualitative interviews data and a scoping review. Using a parallel approach, we combined results of an interview study with 10 participants of a job-reintegration program in Germany and a scoping review. The interviews, conducted in early 2021, focused on health topics of interest to the participants and their sources of health-related information. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. For the scoping review, we searched MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycInfo and SCOPUS up to January 2021 for studies containing “unemployed” AND “health literacy” in titles/abstracts. Study selection and data extraction were done independently by two researchers. Nutrition and physical activity emerged as core themes during the interviews, with some participants referring to the importance of both for mental health. Doctors and the institution running the job-reintegration program were the sources of health-related information often mentioned. The Corona pandemic was reported to have limited physical activity and affected psycho-social well-being. Five out of 2696 studies were included in the review. Four focused on mental health literacy, the fifth assessed information seeking practices in unemployed adults. The qualitative analysis revealed that health literacy needs of unemployed adults go beyond mental health literacy. As nutrition and physical activity impact mental health, interventions targeting such topics might also improve mental health literacy in unemployed adults. Study findings will be discussed with unemployed persons and social workers in co-production workshops that aim to identify and prioritize health literacy needs for intervention development. Key messages Health literacy programs for unemployed adults should target nutrition and physical activity. Workforce re-integration programs play a pivotal role in improving health literacy of unemployed adults.

Download Full-text

Health literacy and adherence to psychiatric appointments: Study of an urban academic center

European Psychiatry ◽

10.1016/s0924-9338(11)72260-x ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 26 (S2) ◽

pp. 553-553

Author(s):

A. Bizamcer ◽

K. MacIntyre

Keyword(s):

Health Literacy ◽

Psychiatric Patients ◽

Functional Health ◽

Screening Tests ◽

Short Version ◽

Appointment Adherence ◽

Temple University ◽

Related Information ◽

Academic Center ◽

Health Related

IntroductionHealth literacy (HL) measures the ability of an individual to use health-related information in order to make appropriate health-related decisions and to navigate the healthcare system. It influences a variety of behaviors such as breastfeeding, medication adherence, or the use of screening tests. Research has shown that it is related to the treatment outcome of conditions such as HIV and diabetes.ObjectiveIt is the assumption of this study that health literacy also plays a role in psychiatric patients’ adherence to treatment; in particular, to outpatient psychiatric appointments.AimsWe hypothesized that patients with different health literacy levels would have different adherence rates to outpatient psychiatric appointments.MethodsThe study was conducted in 2006 in the Outpatient Psychiatry Department (OPD) of Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. All English and Spanish-speaking patients of the OPD (potential N = 150) were invited to complete the short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (sTOFHLA), yielding three HL groups: adequate, marginal and inadequate. We explored the demographic and clinical correlates of HL and compared the three literacy groups with respect to their adherence to appointments during a 12-month period.ResultsOur study showed that, for our patient population, HL was not significantly related to any of the demographic and clinical variables included in our analysis except appointment adherence.ConclusionPatients with lower HL had lower adherence to appointments. These findings invite further research to explore the significance of HL.

Download Full-text

An Empirical Note on Comparative Perceptions of Indian Patients and Physicians in Direct-to-Consumer Promotion of Pharmaceutical Products

Dynamic Perspectives on Globalization and Sustainable Business in Asia - Advances in Business Strategy and Competitive Advantage ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-7095-0.ch009 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 128-153 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jaya Rani Pandey ◽

Ajeya Jha ◽

Samrat Kumar Mukherjee ◽

Saibal Kumar Saha

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Regression Model ◽

Pharmaceutical Products ◽

Latent Factors ◽

Direct To Consumer ◽

Related Information ◽

Health Related ◽

Empirical Note ◽

Physician Relationship ◽

The Impact

Direct promotion of pharmaceutical products to patients is not legal in India. Internet healthcare websites, however, have rendered this law moot. Patients today increasingly flock to websites to find health-related information. With the help of a survey involving 400 patients and 200 physicians, this chapter attempts to identify the differences in the perception of physicians and patients. The results indicate that major differences exist in the beliefs held by physicians and patients vis-à-vis merits and demerits of DTC-promotion through health-related websites. As patients and physicians operate as a team while health-solutions are made available to the patients, such major differences in their beliefs regarding the merits and demerits of DTC-promotion may result in emergence of fault lines in their relationship. An exploratory factor analysis has been conducted to confirm if the underlying variables measure the latent factors or not. Regression model has been developed to measure the impact of information perception on patient-physician relationship.

Download Full-text

Case Study on Patient Groups on Facebook in Turkey

Research Anthology on Public Health Services, Policies, and Education ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-8960-1.ch007 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 149-174

Author(s):

Aslıhan Ardıç Çobaner ◽

Beste Sultan Gülgün

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Health Literacy ◽

Common Ground ◽

Disease Patient ◽

Ageing Population ◽

Economic Determinants ◽

Critical Health Literacy ◽

Related Information ◽

Health Related ◽

Patient Groups

Increasing prevalence of chronic diseases and ageing population necessitate access to accurate health information for better health. The internet and social media affect and transform the communication of health-related information. Online platforms are enabling patients and patient groups to find common ground to discuss their health and diseases. Focusing on disease/patient group sites, this chapter investigates these sites through analyzing their features, inclusion of social and economic determinants of health in their contents, and level of critical health literacy calling for decision and action. Furthermore, these sites and their organization structures are analyzed by netnography. The findings show that disease/patient sites on Facebook are highly benefitted as an information and experience sharing platform. However, the critical health literacy level of the contents is quite low. Therefore, the role of social media as an improvement area for critical health literacy in health communication is getting more important.

Download Full-text