scholarly journals Effects of health literacy skills, educational attainment, and level of melanoma risk on responses to personalized genomic testing

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-19
Author(s):  
Kimberly A. Kaphingst ◽  
Erva Khan ◽  
Kirsten Meyer White ◽  
Andrew Sussman ◽  
Dolores Guest ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Genomic Testing ◽  
Melanoma Risk

scholarly journals Measuring the health literacy of the Upper Midwest

2017 ◽  
Vol 105 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Caitlin J. Bakker, MLIS ◽  
Jonathan B. Koffel, MSI ◽  
Nicole R. Theis-Mahon, MLIS
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Asian American ◽  
Alaska Native ◽  
Adult Population ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Care Utilization ◽  
Upper Midwest ◽  
The Individual

Objectives: Health literacy—the ability to obtain, process, and understand basic health information—is a major determinant of an individual’s overall health and health care utilization. In this project, the authors examined predictors of health literacy levels, including numeracy and graphic literacy, among an adult population in the Upper Midwest.Methods: The research was conducted at the Minnesota State Fair. Three previously validated scales were used to assess health literacy: Newest Vital Sign, the General Health Numeracy Test, and questions from Galesic and Garcia-Retamero’s Graph Literacy Scale. Demographic information—such as age, educational attainment, zip code, and other potential predictors and modifiers—was collected. Multivariate linear regression was conducted to examine the independent effects of educational attainment, race, ethnicity, gender, and rural or urban location on overall health literacy and scores on each of the individual instruments.Results: A total of 353 Upper Midwest residents completed the survey, with the majority being white, college-educated, and from an urban area. Having a graduate or professional degree or being under the age of 21 were associated with increased health literacy scores, while having a high school diploma or some high school education, being Asian American, or being American Indian/Alaska Native were associated with lower health literacy scores.Conclusion: Advanced health literacy skills, including the ability to calculate and compare information, were problematic even in well-educated populations. Understanding numerical and graphical information was found to be particularly difficult, and more research is needed to understand these deficits and how best to address them.

scholarly journals Information Horizons Mapping is Related to Other Measures of Health Literacy but Not Information Literacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 171-173
Author(s):  
Eugenia Opuda
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Information Seeking ◽  
Information Source ◽  
Rank Correlation ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Weak Relationship ◽  
Information Horizons

A Review of: Zimmerman, M.S. (2020). Mapping literacies: Comparing information horizons mapping to measures of information and health literacy. Journal of Documentation, 76(2), 531–551. https://doi.org/10.1108/JD-05-2019-0090 Abstract Objective – To evaluate information horizons mapping as a valid measure for assessing information literacy and health literacy compared to three validated information and health literacy measurements and level of educational attainment. Design – Quantitative data analysis using multiple regression and the Anker, Reinhart, and Feeley model as the conceptual framework. Setting – A small university-centered community in Iowa City. Subjects – 149 members of the university community. Methods – The author conducted a power analysis to determine a minimum sample size required for maintaining study validity and selected the Anker Model of conceptual framing for health information-seeking behavior. This is a three-phased model that explores the information seeker’s predisposing characteristics, engagement in health information seeking, and outcomes associated with information seeking. Recruited participants completed three assessments—the Tool for Real-time Assessment of Information Literacy Skills (TRAILS), the Health Literacy Skills Instrument (HLSI), and the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS)—and drew information horizon maps illustrating what sources of information they tend to seek for health-related questions. The author calculated information horizon map results using a scoring system incorporating the number and quality of information sources identified in the maps and applied multiple linear regression analysis and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient to participants’ scores from all four assessments as well as their level of educational attainment to determine strengths of relationships between variables. Main Results – In the information horizons map results, participants identified an average of 6.9 information sources with a range of 3–13 and received an average score of 18.8 in information source quality with a range of 4–45. The author applied multiple linear regression to predict the number of information source counts on the information horizons map based on HLSI, TRAILS, and BHLS assessment scores and level of educational attainment and found a significant relationship (p=0.044). A significant relationship also existed between quality of source scores on the map based on HLSI, TRAILS, and BHLS assessment scores and level of educational attainment (p=0.033). Removing the educational attainment variable produced an even stronger significant result. Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient supported the findings of the multiple regression analysis and revealed a strong relationship between source count and scores on the BHLS (r=0.87) and HLSI (r=71) but a weak relationship between source counts and TRAILS score and level of educational attainment. Source quality had a weak relationship with BHLS scores (r=0.24), a moderate relationship with the HLSI scores (r=0.50), and a weak relationship with TRAILS scores and educational attainment. Conclusions – The data analysis suggests a significant relationship between information horizons mapping and health literacy but not information literacy or level of educational attainment. This data supports findings from the author’s previous research examining the relationship between information horizon maps and information literacy scores for refugee and immigrant women. It also suggests that information horizons mapping may facilitate storytelling that reflects the complexity of participants’ health literacy ability and may introduce the potential to assess low-literacy level populations. More research is needed to examine the quality and complexity produced in information horizons maps. This methodology may be applied to investigate better techniques for assessing the health literacy levels among populations that struggle with prose-based assessments.

scholarly journals Disaster Literacy

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 694-694
Author(s):  
Lisa Brown ◽  
Lindsay Peterson
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Literacy ◽  
Disaster Preparedness ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Public Health Issue ◽  
Low Literacy ◽  
Social Marketing Campaign ◽  
Life Saving ◽  
Response And Recovery

Abstract People who plan ahead typically fare better during the response and recovery phases of a disaster. However, problems arise when the needs, wants, abilities, and resources of vulnerable people are not adequately considered. The lack of alignment between the literacy demands of existing materials and the literacy skills of many vulnerable subgroups limits their ability to understand and effectively use potentially life-saving information. Existing health literacy models that have demonstrated effectiveness in changing health behaviors and improving outcomes is a first step to reducing disaster-related morbidity and mortality in low resource and low literacy areas. This presentation will 1) describe how interdisciplinary collaborations can be used to address this public health issue, 2) explain how health literacy techniques can be applied when developing disaster materials, and 3) present research data on a social marketing campaign to improved disaster preparedness of older adults. Part of a symposium sponsored by Disasters and Older Adults Interest Group.

scholarly journals The relationship between socioeconomic position and health literacy among urban and rural adults in regional China

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Chen ◽  
Hongfu Ren ◽  
Na Wang ◽  
Yaqing Xiong ◽  
Fei Xu
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Educational Attainment ◽  
Socioeconomic Position ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Outcome Variable ◽  
Average Income ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Rural Adults

Abstract Background To examine associations of socioeconomic position (SEP), separately indicated by education, monthly family average income (FAI) and occupation, with health literacy (HL) among adults in regional China. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted among urban and rural adults (aged 25–69 years) who were randomly selected, using the probability proportionate to size sampling approach, from Nanjing municipality of China during October and December of 2016. HL, the outcome variable, was assessed using the Chinese Resident Health Literacy Scale. SEP, our independent variable, was separately measured with educational attainment, monthly family average income and occupation. Logistic regression models were introduced to examine SEP-HL association with odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI). Results Totally, 8698 participants completed the survey. The proportion of participants with unweighted and weighted adequate HL was 18.0% (95%CI = 17.2, 18.8%) and 19.9% (95%CI = 16.6, 23.6%), respectively, in this study. After adjustment for possible confounding factors, each SEP indicator was in significantly positive relation to both unweighted and weight HL level. Participants who obtained 13+ and 10–12 years educational attainment, respectively, had 2.41 (95%CI = 1.60, 3.64) and 1.68 (95%CI = 1.23, 2.29) times odds to record weighted adequate HL compared to their counterparts who were with 0–9 years education. Subjects within upper (OR = 1.92, 95%CI = 1.24, 2.98) and middle FAI tertile (OR = 1.59, 95%CI = 1.19, 2.13), respectively, were more likely to report weighted adequate HL relative to those who were within lower FAI tertile. White collars were more likely to have weighted adequate HL (OR = 1.33, 95%CI = 1.09, 1.61) than blue collars. Conclusions Each of education, FAI and occupation was positively associated with health literacy among urban and rural adults in China. The findings have important implications that different SEP indicators can be used to identify vulnerable residents in population-based health literacy promotion campaigns.

Towards a progression of health literacy skills: Establishing the HLS-Q12 cutoff scores

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Øystein Guttersrud ◽  
Christopher Le ◽  
Kjell Sverre Pettersen ◽  
Sølvi Helseth ◽  
Hanne Søberg Finbråten
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Short Form ◽  
Population Sample ◽  
Measurement Model ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Item Calibration ◽  
Rasch Modelling ◽  
Cutoff Scores ◽  
Item Content

Abstract Background The self-reported European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47) is a widely used measure for population health literacy. Based on confirmatory factor analyses and Rasch modelling, the short form HLS-Q12 was developed to meet the Rasch unidimensional measurement model expectations. After its publication, there was a worldwide call to identify HLS-Q12 cutoff scores and establish clearly delineated standards regarding the skills assessed. This study therefore aims to identify the HLS-Q12 scores associated with statistically distinct levels of proficiency and to construct a proficiency scale that may indicate what individuals typically know and can do at increasingly sophisticated levels of health literacy. Methods We applied the unidimensional Rasch measurement model for polytomous items to responses from 900 randomly sampled individuals and 388 individuals with type 2 diabetes. Using Rasch based item calibration, we constructed a proficiency scale by locating the ordered item thresholds along the scale. By applying Wright’s method for the maximum number of strata, we determined the cutoff scores for significantly different levels. By directly referring to item content that people who achieved the cutoff scores viewed as ‘easy’, we suggested what these gradually more advanced levels of health literacy might mean in terms of item content. Results Analysing the population sample, we identified statistically distinct levels of health literacy at the empirically identified cutoff scores 27, 33 and 39. We confirmed them by analysing the responses from individuals with diabetes. Using item calibration, the resulting HLS-Q12 proficiency scale expresses typical knowledge and skills at these three statistically distinct levels. The scale’s cumulative nature indicates what it may mean qualitatively to move from low to high health literacy. Conclusions By identifying levels of health literacy, we may initiate the improvement of current models of health literacy. Determining how to adapt information to patients’ health literacy level is a possible clinical outcome. A substantial methodological outcome is the inevitability of Rasch modelling in measurement. We found that Wright’s method identified rating scale cutoff scores consistently across independent samples. To reveal sources of potential biases, threats to validity and imprecision of benchmarks, replication of our study in other contexts is required

How Different Health Literacy Dimensions Influences Health Status and Well-being among Men and Women: The Mediating Role of Health Behaviors

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fan Zhang ◽  
Peggy Pui-Lai Or ◽  
Joanne Wai-Yee Chung
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Health Behaviors ◽  
Health Knowledge ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Physical Symptoms ◽  
Literacy Skills ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Positive Health ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Men And Women

Abstract Background. Health literacy, the ability to access, understand, evaluate, and apply health information, was found to contribute to positive health outcomes, possibly via promoting healthy behaviors. However, the specific pathways linking different health literacy skills to health and well-being has remained unclear. Methods. A cross-sectional survey with structural questionnaires was administered among 2236 community-based adults in Hong Kong (mean age = 46.10 ±19.05). Health literacy was measured by HLS-Asian-47. Participants' health behavior, physical conditions, and subjective well-being were reported.Results. With structural modeling path analysis, health literacy in finding and understanding information showed a direct effect on enhancing physical health. While applying information capacity had an indirect positive effect via promoting health behaviors, which was moderated by sex. Only among women, this indirect effect predicting fewer physical symptoms and better well-being was significant.Conclusions. Although similar patterns were found in physical condition and well-being, distinct direct and indirect pathways were found of different health literacy dimensions for men and women. Based on the findings, by targeting specific health literacy skills, education programs should be developed to enhance women’s health knowledge, and men's application of the knowledge in healthy lifestyle.

Validation of an Australian parenting health literacy skills instrument: The parenting plus skills index

2020 ◽  
Vol 103 (6) ◽  
pp. 1245-1251 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Ayre ◽  
Daniel S J Costa ◽  
Kirsten J McCaffery ◽  
Don Nutbeam ◽  
Danielle Marie Muscat
Keyword(s):  
Health Literacy ◽  
Literacy Skills
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