ABCs or 123s? The independent contributions of literacy and numeracy skills on health task performance among older adults

PATIENT EDUCATION AND COUNSELING

卷:98

Article

Smith, Samuel G.^1,2  Curtis, Laura M.¹  O'Conor, Rachel¹  Federman, Alex D.³  Wolf, Michael S.^1,4 

[1] Northwestern Univ, Div Gen Internal Med & Geriatr, Hlth Literacy & Learning Program, Chicago, IL 60611 USA

[2] Queen Mary Univ London, Wolfson Inst Prevent Med, London EC1M 6BQ, England

[3] Mt Sinai Sch Med, Div Gen Internal Med, New York, NY USA

[4] Northwestern Univ, Dept Learning Sci, Chicago, IL 60611 USA

关键词: Health literacy;    Numeracy;    Health communication;    Patient education;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.pec.2015.04.007

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Objective: To investigate the relationship between literacy and numeracy and their association with health task performance. Methods: Older adults (n = 304) completed commonly used measures of literacy and numeracy. Single factor literacy and numeracy scores were calculated and used to predict performance on an established set of health self-management tasks, including: (i) responding to spoken information; (ii) comprehension of print and (iii) multimedia information; and (iv) organizing and dosing medication. Total and subscale scores were calculated. Results: Literacy and numeracy measures were highly correlated (rs = 0.68; ps < 0.001). In multivariable models adjusted for age, gender, race, education, and comorbidity, lower literacy (13 = 0.44, p < 0.001) and numeracy (beta = 0.44, p < 0.001) were independently associated with worse overall task performance and all sub-scales (literacy range, beta = 0.23-0.45, ps < 0.001; numeracy range, beta = 0.31-0.41, ps < 0.001). Multivariable analyses with both constructs entered explained more variance in overall health task performance compared with separate literacy and. numeracy models (8.2% and 10% respectively, ps < 0.001). Conclusion: Literacy and numeracy were highly correlated, but independent predictors of health task performance. These skill sets are complementary and both are important for health self-management. Practice implications: Self-management interventions may be more effective if they consider both literacy and numeracy skills rather than focusing on one specific ability. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd.

【 授权许可】

Free