Multicenter study of limited health literacy in emergency department patients

The objective was to evaluate the prevalence of limited health literacy and its association with sociodemographic variables in emergency department (ED) patients.

This was a cross-sectional survey in three Boston EDs. The authors enrolled consecutive adult patients during two 24-hour periods at each site. They measured health literacy by the short version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA). Using multivariate logistic regression, the authors evaluated associations between sociodemographic variables and limited health literacy, as classified by S-TOFHLA scores.

The authors enrolled 300 patients (77% of eligible). Overall, 75 (25%; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 20% to 30%) of participants had limited health literacy. Limited health literacy was independently associated with older age (compared to 18-44 years, odds ratio [OR] 4.3 [95% CI = 2.0 to 9.2] for 45-64 years and OR 3.4 [95% CI = 1.4 to 8.5] for >or=65 years), less education (compared to high school graduates, OR 2.7 [95% CI = 1.1 to 7.3] for some high school or lower and OR 0.43 [95% CI = 0.21 to 0.88] for some college or higher), and lower income (OR 2.8 [95% CI = 1.2 to 6.6] for $40,000). Although ethnicity, race, and language were associated with limited health literacy in unadjusted analyses, the associations were not significant on multivariate analysis.

In this sample, one-quarter of ED patients would be expected to have difficulty understanding health materials and following prescribed treatment regimens. Advanced age and low socioeconomic status were independently associated with limited health literacy. The ability of a significant subgroup of ED patients to understand health information, especially during illness or injury, requires further study.