Comparison of Newest Vital Sign and Brief Health Literacy Screen scores in a large, urban Hispanic cohort.
Adriana Arcia, Anthony T Pho, Maichou Lor and 1 others
PMID 36646018WHAT IT FOUND
In English and Spanish, self-reported health literacy scores weakly matched interviewer-scored NVS scores and poorly identified low NVS categories.
Do not treat BHLS as a stand-in for NVS when assessing Hispanic adults.
Key findings
01BHLS and NVS total scores were weakly related in English (r = .21) and Spanish (r = .19).
02BHLS total scores performed poorly at discriminating the lowest NVS category (AUROC .606 English, .605 Spanish).
03NVS scores showed a floor effect: 61% of respondents scored 0, yet BHLS item ratings spanned all five levels.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The sample was a convenience sample and included disproportionately many women, so it may not represent all Hispanic or Latinx adults. Most participants had roots in the Dominican Republic, so results may not apply to Hispanic or Latinx people from other countries or regions. The BHLS items did not specify whether forms and written materials were in the respondent's preferred language, which could affect self-reported confidence. The NVS had a floor effect, with 61% of respondents scoring 0, so it did not spread scores across the full range. This analysis used survey responses, not patient care outcomes, so it does not show which measure improves education or treatment results.
Declared interests
The supplied text does not include a conflicts-of-interest declaration. The article is marked as supported by NIH extramural research and non-U.S. government research support.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that BHLS can replace NVS because both scales showed good internal consistency. In this cohort the two scores were weakly related, and BHLS total scores did not reliably identify the lowest NVS category.