Health Literacy Is an Independent Predictor of Cancer Patients' Hospitalizations

Area of Science:

• Oncology
• Health Services Research
• Patient Outcomes

Background:

• Health literacy is a known predictor of hospitalization rates across populations.
• Limited research exists on the specific relationship between health literacy and hospitalization in cancer patients.
• No prior studies have investigated health literacy's impact on cancer patient hospitalizations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the predictive ability of health literacy for hospitalization in adult cancer patients.
• To examine the association between health literacy and various hospitalization metrics in cancer care.

Main Methods:

• Secondary data analysis of adult cancer patients within 5 years of diagnosis.
• Utilized the Cancer Health Literacy Test 30 (CHLT-30) to assess health literacy.
• Employed multivariate negative binomial regression to analyze hospitalization rates, days hospitalized, and 30-day readmissions, controlling for confounding variables.

Main Results:

• A significant negative relationship was observed between health literacy and the number of inpatient hospitalizations (β = -0.041, p = .009).
• Health literacy also negatively predicted the total number of days spent hospitalized (β = -0.028, p = .023).
• No significant relationship was found between health literacy and 30-day readmissions (β = -0.002, p = .903).

Conclusions:

• Lower health literacy in cancer patients is associated with a higher frequency and duration of hospitalizations.
• These findings highlight the need for additional support for cancer patients with low health literacy to mitigate unplanned hospitalizations.
• Cancer patients with diminished health literacy face an elevated risk of hospital admission.