Health Literacy and Medication Adherence Among Patients Treated in a Free Health Clinic: A Pilot Study

Health Services Research & Managerial Epidemiology

Mark T.Sawkin¹ 

关键词: health literacy;    medications;    pharmacy;    practice management;    health outcomes;   

DOI  :  10.1177/2333392815589094

学科分类：医学（综合）

来源: Sage Journals

【 摘 要 】

Background:A patient’s health literacy is not routinely assessed during visits with a health care provider. Since low health literacy is a risk factor for poor health outcomes, assessing health literacy should be considered as part of the standard medical workup.Objectives:To evaluate the health literacy levels and medication adherence of patients treated by pharmacists in both the general medicine and the chronic care clinics at an urban free health clinic.Methods:Eligible patients from the free health clinic completed the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), a health literacy measurement tool, during their clinic visit in 2011. Medication adherence was self-reported by the patients.Results:A total of 100 patients participated (mean age = 48). The majority of participants were female (56%) and white (55%). Most (64%) of the patients scored at a high school reading level according to REALM. Only 21% of participants read at a seventh- to eighth-grade level. Overall medication adherence rat...

【 授权许可】

CC BY