Health Literacy and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Scores Among Patients Referred to Spine...

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient Outcomes
• Health Literacy

Background:

• Health literacy, defined as the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information for decision-making, is crucial for health outcomes.
• Low health literacy is associated with adverse outcomes, including increased hospitalization, but its impact on spine surgery patients is understudied.
• Understanding health literacy's role in spine surgery can inform targeted interventions to improve patient care.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the relationship between health literacy scores and patient-reported outcomes in spine surgery patients.
• Specifically, to assess the association between health literacy and Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) scores at baseline.
• To identify demographic and clinical factors associated with varying levels of health literacy in this population.

Main Methods:

• A single-center retrospective study conducted at NYU Langone Orthopedic Center.
• The Newest Vital Sign survey assessed health literacy in 57 English-speaking adult spine surgery patients.
• Data analysis included univariate associations (Welch Two Sample t-test, Pearson's Chi-squared) and multivariate logistic regression.

Main Results:

• 44% of patients had limited health literacy; these patients were older, more likely to be patients of color, and had lower physical health scores.
• Limited health literacy was significantly associated with a higher incidence of hypertension (80% vs. 31%).
• Logistic regression indicated that for each unit increase in physical health score, the odds of adequate health literacy increased by approximately 16%.

Conclusions:

• Health literacy significantly impacts health outcomes in spine surgery patients, particularly concerning physical health and hypertension.
• Lower health literacy correlates with poorer self-reported physical health and increased prevalence of chronic conditions like hypertension.
• These findings underscore the importance of addressing health literacy to optimize care and outcomes for spine surgery patients.