Health Literacy in Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease

Area of Science:

• Pediatric Hematology
• Health Literacy Research
• Adolescent Medicine

Background:

• Adolescents with sickle cell disease (SCD) face unique challenges in managing their chronic condition.
• Health literacy is crucial for effective self-management and positive health outcomes.
• Limited data exists on the health literacy levels of adolescents with SCD.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the health literacy of a cohort of 75 adolescents diagnosed with sickle cell disease (SCD).

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional, descriptive correlational study was conducted.
• Demographic measures and health literacy were assessed using the REALM-Teen and Newest Vital Sign (NVS) instruments.
• The study included 75 Black, non-Hispanic adolescents (ages 10-19) with SCD.

Main Results:

• Adolescents with SCD demonstrated lower health literacy scores compared to healthy populations on both REALM-Teen and NVS.
• Health literacy scores showed significant positive correlations with current grade level (r=0.52), age (r=0.49), and income (r=0.37).
• The mean age of participants was 14.7 years, with scores on REALM-Teen averaging 53.7 and NVS averaging 2.37.

Conclusions:

• Health literacy among adolescents with sickle cell disease is suboptimal.
• Further research is needed to identify barriers and facilitators to health literacy in this population.
• Improving health literacy is essential for successful health outcomes in adolescents with SCD.