Health literacy skills of kidney transplant recipients

Although low health literacy can affect patients' treatment decision making, comprehension of health information, and medication adherence, little is known about health literacy skills of kidney transplant recipients.

To examine the relationship among kidney transplant recipients' health literacy levels, transplant knowledge, and graft function.

Cross-sectional study of 124 adult kidney transplant recipients.

Health literacy was assessed via the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) and the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine-Transplantation (REALM-T). Data on recipients' transplant numeracy, knowledge needs, and demographics were collected via semistructured interviews. Multivariable linear regressions were used to assess the relationship between health literacy and graft function.

Most kidney recipients (91%) had adequate health literacy (S-TOFHLA); however, 81% were unfamiliar with at least 1 kidney transplant-related term (REALM-T). The 5 least familiar terms were sensitization (50%), urethra (45%), trough level (41%), blood urea nitrogen (32%), and toxicity (31%). Numeracy levels varied: 21% knew the likelihood of 1-year graft survival; 29% knew that half of kidney recipients have problems with the transplant in the first 6 months; 68% were aware of the risk of death within the first year after transplantation; and 86% knew the normal range for creatinine in kidney recipients. Patients with lower health literacy (REALM-T) had higher creatinine levels.

Transplant providers should intervene with better patient education materials to improve patients' health literacy, which may improve patients' medication adherence or transplant outcomes.