Social and Cultural Barriers: Understanding Musculoskeletal Health Literacy: AOA Critical Issues

Area of Science:

• Public Health
• Medical Communication
• Patient Education

Background:

• Limited health literacy is a significant public health issue, impacting roughly half of the American population.
• It creates barriers to understanding health information, complicates medical communication, and leads to poorer health outcomes and chronic disease management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define health literacy and its implications.
• To explore risk factors and consequences of limited health literacy.
• To examine orthopaedic-specific challenges and outline strategies for improvement.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing literature on health literacy.
• Analysis of consequences and risk factors.
• Discussion of orthopaedic-specific considerations and communication strategies.

Main Results:

• Limited health literacy is linked to adverse health events, including poor health control and increased mortality.
• Physicians face challenges in identifying patients with limited health literacy, impacting the physician-patient relationship.
• Effective communication strategies are crucial for improving patient comprehension and care.

Conclusions:

• Addressing limited health literacy is essential for improving patient outcomes in all medical fields, including orthopaedics.
• Orthopaedic surgeons can implement specific strategies to enhance patient understanding and communication.
• Improving health literacy can mitigate negative health consequences and foster better patient engagement.