profession
Report names top health literacy trouble spots
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted April 11, 2011
Patients with poor reading skills also have poor health outcomes, according to a systematic review of medical literature published in March by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (link).
Medical studies have linked low health literacy to lower influenza vaccination rates, worse medication adherence, underuse of mammography, more trips to emergency departments and higher hospitalization rates, according to the agency's review. The report showed that 42 studies of interventions to reduce health literacy risks found that evidence was "low or insufficient."
More than 75 million adults who speak English are estimated to have poor health literacy, the agency said, meaning they have trouble understanding information regarding their medical care. Last year, the Dept. of Health and Human Services launched an initiative to simplify how physicians and other health professionals communicate with patients to reduce the dangers associated with poor health literacy.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2011/04/11/prbf0411.htm.
