Low Health Literacy
Authors: Hema Padmanabhan
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2011)

Letters6 December 2011Low Health LiteracyHema Padmanabhan, MDHema Padmanabhan, MDFrom Silver Spring, MD 20906.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-155-11-201112060-00019 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR:I read with great interest Berkman and colleagues' systematic review (1) of selected studies on “health literacy” and numeracy, which highlights only the results that reviewers deduced by analyzing abstracted articles in tabular form and rating study quality by using predefined criteria. On the basis of health literacy skills (2), Berkman and colleagues' review concludes that low literacy is associated with poorer health outcomes and poorer use of health care services. The major limitation of their review is that actual patients were not studied.Education level, socioeconomic status, and the health care setting (for example, clinics, hospitals, ...References1. Berkman ND, Sheridan SL, Donahue KE, Halpern DJ, Crotty K. Low health literacy and health outcomes: an updated systematic review. Ann Intern Med. 2011;155:97-107. [PMID: 21768583] LinkGoogle Scholar2. Baker DW. The meaning and the measure of health literacy. J Gen Intern Med. 2006;21:878-83. [PMID: 16881951] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar3. Hassan A, Pearce NJ, Mathers J, Veugelers PJ, Hirsch GM, Cox JL; Improving Cardiovascular Outcomes in Nova Scotia Investigators. The effect of place of residence on access to invasive cardiac services following acute myocardial infarction. Can J Cardiol. 2009;25:207-12. [PMID: 19340343] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Laditka JN, Laditka SB, Probst JC. Health care access in rural areas: evidence that hospitalization for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions in the United States may increase with the level of rurality. Health Place. 2009;15:731-40. [PMID: 19211295] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Weeks WB, Kazis LE, Shen Y, Cong Z, Ren XS, Miller D, et al. Differences in health-related quality of life in rural and urban veterans. Am J Public Health. 2004;94:1762-7. [PMID: 15451747] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Hema Padmanabhan, MDAffiliations: From Silver Spring, MD 20906.Disclosures: None disclosed. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoLow Health Literacy and Health Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Review Nancy D. Berkman , Stacey L. Sheridan , Katrina E. Donahue , David J. Halpern , and Karen Crotty Low Health Literacy Joy C. Burnette Low Health Literacy Lindsay Rosenfeld Low Health Literacy Nancy D. Berkman Low Health Literacy Rima E. Rudd Metrics 6 December 2011Volume 155, Issue 11Page: 794KeywordsHealth careHealth insuranceHospitalsLiteracyMedical servicesNumeracyRural areasSocioeconomic statusSystematic reviewsUrban areas ePublished: 6 December 2011 Issue Published: 6 December 2011 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2011 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...