Publications and Research
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2024
Abstract
Purpose: This study aimed to explore associations of sociodemographic factors with difficulties in three health literacy (HL) skills and the severity of low HL skills.
Design: Cross-sectional secondary data analysis. Subjects: Data came from 17,834 adults who responded to the HL module with a response rate of 47% in the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.
Measures: Independent variables included sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, employment and income. Dependent variables are three HL skills: obtaining, understanding oral, and understanding written health information.
Analysis: We conducted weighted Chi-square tests and multinominal logistic regressions.
Results: Cancer survivors younger than 65 (aged 18-39: AOR=4.46, p< .001; aged 40-64: AOR=2.29, p< .001), Hispanic (AOR=2.17, CI=1.61-2.50, p< .01) had higher odds of difficulty obtaining health information. Female cancer survivors had lower odds of difficulty comprehending oral (AOR=.69, CI=.55-.87, p< .01) and written (AOR=.58, CI=.46-.74, p< .001) information. The relative risk ratio of having difficulties in three HL tasks was higher for those who were younger than 65 (aged 18-39: RRR= 10.18, CI=2.41-4.3, p< .01; aged 40-64: RRR=4.01, CI=2.09-7.69, p< .001), Hispanic (RRR=3.24, CI=1.66-11.34, p< .01), unemployed (RRR=6.1, CI=2.88-12.76, p< .001), education levels lower than some college (some high school: RRR=4.34, p< .01; high school: RRR=2.62, p< .05) and household income under $25,000 (RRR=6.99, CI=2.8-17.5, p< .001).
Conclusion: Intervention and communication materials need to be tailored for patients with different HL skills considering age, gender, socioeconomic status and cultural backgrounds.
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Comments
This is the author's accepted manuscript of an article originally published in American Journal of Health Promotion, available at https://doi.org/10.1177/08901171231222073