Factors that influence health literacy in patients with coronary artery disease.
Ana Caroline da Costa, Ana Paula da Conceição, Howard Karl Butcher and 1 others
PMID 36995856WHAT IT FOUND
For patients with coronary artery disease, older age and hypertension were linked to lower health literacy, while more schooling and employment were linked to higher health literacy.
Disease knowledge was not linked to health literacy.
Key findings
01Health literacy was inadequate in 41.8% of patients, adequate in 35.2%, and borderline in 23.0%.
02In the regression model, age and hypertension were associated with lower health literacy scores, and schooling and employment with higher scores: each additional year of age lowered the score by 0.55 points, hypertension lowered it by 29.9 points, each additional schooling year raised it by 2.14 points, and employment raised it by 8.56 points.
03Knowledge about coronary artery disease, measured by the CADE-Q SV, averaged 12.3 ± 2.5 and was not significantly correlated with health literacy.
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 from one hospital outpatient service, so it may not represent patients in other hospitals or regions. Most participants were white, which limits how far the results can be applied to other populations. The study measured factors and health literacy at one time point, so it cannot show that age, schooling, employment or hypertension caused lower health literacy. The researchers did not investigate whether patients had taken part in earlier programs that could have affected disease knowledge or health literacy. The health literacy numbering items had an internal consistency value of 0.12, and the CAD knowledge questionnaire had 0.47 in this sample.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these associations as proof that age, schooling, employment or hypertension caused lower health literacy. The study is cross-sectional and used a single hospital convenience sample, so it cannot show cause.