Single-item or two-item literacy screener to predict the S-TOFHLA among adult hemodialysis patients

The IMproving treatment decisions for Patients with AortiC stenosis Through Shared Decision Making (IMPACT SDM) Study: study protocol for a cluster randomized stepped wedge trial

BACKGROUND

The American College of Cardiology, American Heart Association, and Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services recommend shared decision-making (SDM) for patients with severe aortic stenosis choosing between transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) and surgical aortic valve replacement (SAVR). Although tools such as patient decision aids (DAs) and training in SDM have been shown to improve SDM, implementation of SDM and DAs is limited. The IMproving treatment decisions for Patients with AortiC stenosis Through Shared Decision Making (IMPACT SDM) study aims to (1) determine the effectiveness of the interventions (a DA and clinician SDM training) in achieving SDM (primary outcome) and improving the quality of decisions about aortic valve replacement, (2) determine the reach of the DAs and adoption of training, and (3) explore potential mechanisms of effectiveness and implementation at the patient-, clinician-, and clinic-level.

METHODS

The study is a hybrid type II effectiveness-implementation study using a cluster randomized batched stepped wedge trial with 8 sites across the USA. Eligible patients will be surveyed before and after visits with the heart valve team; clinicians will be surveyed after visits. Reach of DAs and adoption of training will be tracked. Clinicians will be interviewed regarding barriers and facilitators to implementation.

DISCUSSION

The IMPACT SDM Study seeks to provide evidence of the ability of the interventions to improve SDM and decision quality, and also to shed light on barriers and facilitators to SDM implementation to promote future implementation efforts.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06171737. Registered on December 15, 2023.

Validation of three health literacy screening questions compared with S-TOFHLA in a low-income diverse English- and Spanish-Speaking population

BACKGROUND

Clinicians need a tool to gauge patients' ability to understand health conditions and treatment options. The Short-form Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) is the gold standard for this, but its length is prohibitive for use in clinical settings. This study seeks to validate a novel three-item question set for predicting health literacy.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study utilized an in-person questionnaire alongside the S-TOFHLA. The sample included 2027 English- and Spanish-speaking adults (≥18 years) recruited from primary care practices serving a low-income eastern Pennsylvania community. Most patients (57.7%) identified as Hispanic. Diagnostic accuracy of each question and aggregated scores were assessed against the validated survey by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curve.

RESULTS

Questions in the 'Problems Learning' and 'Help Reading' domains (AUROC 0.66 for each) performed better than the 'Confident Forms' question (AUROC 0.64). Summing all three scores resulted in an even higher AUROC curve (0.71). Cronbach's alpha of the combined items was 0.696.

CONCLUSIONS

Study results suggest that any of the three questions are viable options for screening health literacy levels of diverse patients in primary care clinical settings. However, they perform better as a summed score than when used individually.

Testing a single item screener to support family doctors in identifying patients with limited health literacy: convergent validity of the SILS and the HLS-EU-Q16

BACKGROUND

Low health literacy (HL) is associated with reduced disease self-management skills, worse health outcomes, an increased number of hospitalizations, more frequent use of the emergency room and less utilization of preventive services. To support patients with low HL it is crucial to identify affected patients. HL is a multidimensional construct, which covers different skills and abilities to make informed health decisions. Validated brief screening tools to assess health-literacy-related skills or abilities in primary care settings are currently not available in German. This study aimed to validate a single item screener developed in the US for the German primary care setting.

METHODS

Our study used cross-sectional data from a survey among mainly chronically ill patients (n = 346) conducted in family practices in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. We explored the convergent validity between a single item literacy screener (SILS) and the HLS-EU-Q16. The SILS measures functional HL by asking patients about their need for help when reading information materials. The HLS-EU-Q16 is a multidimensional HL measure frequently used for research purposes in Germany. Associations between the two instruments were examined using Spearman's correlations and regression analyses. The diagnostic performance of the SILS relative to the HLS-EU-Q16 was assessed using receiver operator curves (ROC).

RESULTS

The SILS had a statistically significant correlation with the HLS-EU-Q16 (Spearman ρ: 0.35) and explained 26% of its total variance. Stratified analyses of the convergent validity between both instruments by age, sex, migration background, education level and chronic disease status showed moderate statistically significant correlations in all subgroups (range: 0.223 to 0.428). With an area under the curve of 0.66, the receiver operator curve indicated a satisfactory diagnostic performance of the SILS relative to the HLS-EU-Q16.

CONCLUSIONS

The SILS provided an acceptable initial assessment of HL limitations among a heterogeneous population of mainly chronically ill patients in a primary care setting. With only one item, the SILS can be a short and effective tool for routine use in primary care and specialized care settings. Future research should test the SILS in other populations and pilot applications of the SILS in routine care.

Promoting Informed Decisions About Colorectal Cancer Screening in Older Adults (PRIMED Study): a Physician Cluster Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND

For adults aged 76-85, guidelines recommend individualizing decision-making about whether to continue colorectal cancer (CRC) testing. These conversations can be challenging as they need to consider a patient's CRC risk, life expectancy, and preferences.

OBJECTIVE

To promote shared decision-making (SDM) for CRC testing decisions for older adults.

DESIGN

Two-arm, multi-site cluster randomized trial, assigning physicians to Intervention and Comparator arms. Patients were surveyed shortly after the visit to assess outcomes. Analyses were intention-to-treat.

PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING

Primary care physicians affiliated with 5 academic and community hospital networks and their patients aged 76-85 who were due for CRC testing and had a visit during the study period.

INTERVENTIONS

Intervention arm physicians completed a 2-h online course in SDM communication skills and received an electronic reminder of patients eligible for CRC testing shortly before the visit. Comparator arm received reminders only.

MAIN MEASURES

The primary outcome was patient-reported SDM Process score (range 0-4 with higher scores indicating more SDM); secondary outcomes included patient-reported discussion of CRC screening, knowledge, intention, and satisfaction with the visit.

KEY RESULTS

Sixty-seven physicians (Intervention n=34 and Comparator n=33) enrolled. Patient participants (n=466) were on average 79 years old, 50% with excellent or very good self-rated overall health, and 66% had one or more prior colonoscopies. Patients in the Intervention arm had higher SDM Process scores (adjusted mean difference 0.36 (95%CI (0.08, 0.64), p=0.01) than in the Comparator arm. More patients in the Intervention arm reported discussing CRC screening during the visit (72% vs. 60%, p=0.03) and had higher intention to follow through with their preferred approach (58.0% vs. 47.1, p=0.03). Knowledge scores and visit satisfaction did not differ significantly between arms.

CONCLUSION

Physician training plus reminders were effective in increasing SDM and frequency of CRC testing discussions in an age group where SDM is essential.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

The trial is registered on clinicaltrials.gov (NCT03959696).

Investigating strategies to improve AccesS to Kidney transplantation (the ASK trial): a protocol for a feasibility randomised controlled trial with parallel process evaluation

BACKGROUND

The UK's living-donor kidney transplant (LDKT) activity falls behind that of many other countries internationally, with less than 20% of those eligible receiving a LDKT each year. Certain individuals with kidney disease in the UK appear to be particularly disadvantaged in accessing a LDKT; the most socioeconomically deprived people with kidney disease are 60% less likely to receive a LDKT than the least deprived. Improving equity in living-donor kidney transplantation has been highlighted as an international research priority.

METHODS

This feasibility trial was designed to determine the feasibility of delivery and acceptability of a multicomponent intervention designed to improve access to living-donor kidney transplantation. The intervention comprises three main components: (i) a meeting between a home educator and the transplant candidate for a dedicated discussion about living-donor kidney transplantation, living kidney donation and potential donors; (ii) a standardized letter from a healthcare professional to a candidate's potential donors and (iii) a home-based education and family engagement session including two home educators, the transplant candidate and their family. The primary objectives are to establish the feasibility (i) of delivering the developed intervention in existing care pathways and (ii) of undertaking a randomised controlled trial of the intervention. A mixed-methods parallel process evaluation will investigate the acceptability, implementation and mechanisms of impact of the intervention. The trial is based at two UK hospitals: a transplanting hospital and a non-transplanting referral hospital. Individuals are eligible if they are ≥ 18 years old, are active on the kidney transplant waiting list or have been referred for transplant listing and do not have a potential living-donor undergoing surgical assessment. Randomisation will be undertaken with concealed allocation. Participants will be randomly allocated 1:1 to (i) the intervention or (ii) usual care, stratified by site to ensure a balance in terms of local differences. Minimisation will be used to ensure balance in sex, age group and socioeconomic strata, with probability weighting of 0.8 in order to reduce predictability. The primary outcomes are recruitment (% of those eligible and invited who consent to randomisation) and retention (% of participants completing follow-up).

DISCUSSION

Findings will inform the design of a future fully powered, randomised controlled trial to formally evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention at improving equitable access to living-donor kidney transplantation.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ISRCTN Registry ISRCTN10989132 Applied 30/10/20.

Documenting limited health literacy in a clinical setting

Objective

Health literacy is important in lung cancer care, where treatments and symptoms are difficult to navigate. This study aims to describe how a single-item measure of health literacy can facilitate health literacy system capacity.

Methods

Data include retrospective medical records from 456 patients with lung cancer. Limited or adequate health literacy was based on participant response to the Single Item Literacy Screener (SILS). Data were collected over a 12-month period following diagnosis for each patient.

Results

One-third of patients had limited health literacy; they were more likely to have lung cancers of stage IIIB or higher and greater median levels of depression based on the PHQ-9 questionnaire. Patients with limited health literacy were also more likely to have at least one emergency department visit or unplanned hospitalization and had these visits sooner.

Conclusion

These data document need for interventions to buffer the association between limited health literacy and poor health outcomes.

Innovation

Routine intake screens should include the SILS to measure health literacy among lung cancer patients. New models that address health literacy at the organizational and patient levels can be implemented in health care settings using the SILS.

Content Validity of a Scale Designed to Measure the Access of Older Adults to Outpatient Health Services

The objective of this work was to validate the content of a scale formulated in Spanish for older adults in Mexico, with the aim of comprehensively measuring the access of this population group to outpatient primary-care services. To this end, we carried out a methodological content-validity study in four stages: (1) construction of the scale; (2) evaluation of item legibility; (3) quantitative content evaluation by two groups of judges selected by convenience: participant-judges including older adults with adequate reading comprehension, surveyed in person (n = 23), and expert-judges comprised of researchers specialized in the fields of health services, psychometrics and aging, surveyed online (n = 7); and (4) collection of qualitative feedback from several of the participant-judges (older adults, n = 4). The content was validated both by sequentially examining the level of consensus in the responses of both groups of judges, using the Tastle and Wierman method, and by calculating Aiken's Validity Coefficient with a 90% confidence interval. The scale contained 65 items pertaining to 10 dimensions of two major constructs: accessibility (n = 39) and personal abilities (n = 26). Five items were eliminated in accordance with the minimum-consensus criterion (0.5). This is the first psychometric scale to be developed in Mexico with the view of integrating the characteristics of health-care services and the abilities of the older adults in a single questionnaire designed to measure the access of this population group to outpatient primary-care services.

Health Literacy and Clinical Trial Participation in French Cancer Patients: A National Survey

Few studies have explored the relationship between health literacy (HL) and trial participation. In this context, we aimed to study this relationship in French cancer patients. We used data from the French national VIe après le CANcer (VICAN) survey. Two questionnaire items focused on previous invitations to participate in clinical trials and subsequent enrollment. The Single Item Literacy Screener was used to measure functional HL. In total, 1954 cancer patients responded to both VICAN surveys (two and five years after diagnosis). Mean age was 54.1 ± 12.7 years at diagnosis, and 37.6% were classified as having limited HL. One in ten (10.3%) respondents reported having been previously invited to participate in a clinical trial. Of these, 75.5% had enrolled. Limited HL was associated with fewer trial invitations but not with enrollment once invited. Multivariate analysis confirmed the negative effect of limited HL on clinical trial invitation (adjOR = 0.55 (0.39 to 0.77), p < 0.001) after adjustment for multiple characteristics. Patients with limited HL received fewer invitations to participate in trials but were likely to enroll when asked. Addressing HL is necessary to create a more inclusive health system and to reduce inequalities not only in access to innovative cancer care, but to health inequalities in general.

Question prompt lists and endorsement of question-asking support patients to get the information they seek-A longitudinal qualitative study

Introduction

Question prompt lists (QPLs) have been found to support patients to ask questions and improve the information they receive from doctors. However, some QPL tools, which have been available online for almost 15 years, have little published data on their impact in real‐world settings. This study's aim was to understand patients' attitudes and experiences accessing health information and to assess the impact of introducing two generic QPLs over 3 months.

Methods

A longitudinal qualitative study consisting of three semi‐structured interviews over a three‐month period was conducted with 31 purposively selected participants, adults ≥18 years, recruited online and through social media. Participants were introduced to two different QPLs currently available online (‘Question Builder’; ‘AskShareKnow’). Inductive thematic analysis of a total of 92 semi‐structured telephone interviews was conducted during May–November 2020.

Results

Three main themes are described. (1) Participants described barriers and facilitators to accessing health information: navigating a complex health system; difficulty asking questions of their healthcare professionals and that they value doctors with good communication skills. (2) QPLs helped some participants recognize the role of question‐asking in consultations, made them feel more empowered and helped them prepare and prioritize. (3) Participants wanted QPLs to be easier to use, be accessible when needed and that question‐asking and QPLs should be normalized in medical consultations.

Conclusions

Well‐designed and easily accessible QPLs can empower people to ask questions and be more involved in decisions about their health care. Endorsement of question‐asking in consultations by healthcare professionals and providing QPL tools at the point of contact with health services will be key to realizing the potential of QPLs.

Patient or Public Contribution

This study was completed in conjunction with a reference group consisting of a consumer representative, representatives from the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, Healthdirect Australia Ltd., and the research team.

Determinants of kidney transplant candidates' decision to accept organ donor intervention transplants and participate in post-transplant research: A conjoint analysis

Deceased organ donor intervention research aims to increase organ quality and quantity for transplantation. We assessed the proportion of kidney transplant candidates who would accept "intervention organs," participate in organ intervention research, and factors influencing acceptance. Kidney transplant candidates were presented 12 hypothetical scenarios, which varied three attributes, donor age, predicted waiting time to receive another organ offer, and research risk to the organ. Candidates were also randomly assigned to one of two conditions varying recipient risk. For each scenario, candidates agreed to accept the intervention organ or remain waitlisted. We fit a multivariable logit model to determine the association between scenario attributes and the acceptance decision. Of 249 participants, most (96%) accepted intervention organs under some or all conditions. Factors independently associated with candidates' greater likelihood of accepting an intervention organ included: low risk to the kidney from the intervention (OR 20.53 [95% Confidence Interval (CI), 13.91-30.29]); younger donor age (OR 3.72 [95% CI, 2.83-4.89]), longer time until the next organ offer (OR 3.48 [95% CI, 2.65-4.57]), and greater trust in their transplant physician (OR 1.03 [95% CI, 1.00-1.06]). Candidates with a lower likelihood of acceptance had been waitlisted longer (OR 0.97 per month [95% CI, 0.96-0.99]) and were Black (OR 0.21 [95% CI, 0.08-0.55]). Most candidates would accept an intervention organ, which should encourage transplant leaders to conduct deceased donor organ intervention trials.

Health Literacy, Digital Health Literacy, and COVID-19 Pandemic Attitudes and Behaviors in U.S. College Students: Implications for Interventions

The COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by rapidly emerging evidence, changing guidance, and misinformation, which present new challenges for health literacy (HL) and digital health literacy (DHL) skills. This study explored whether COVID-19-related information access, attitudes, and behaviors were associated with health literacy and digital health literacy among college students in the United States. Self-reported measures of health literacy, along with items on pandemic-related attitudes, behaviors, information sources, and social networks, were collected online using a managed research panel. In July 2020, 256 responses were collected, which mirrored the racial/ethnic and gender diversity of U.S. colleges. Only 49% reported adequate HL, and 57% found DHL tasks easy overall. DHL did not vary by HL level. In multivariable models, both HL and DHL were independently associated with overall compliance with basic preventive practices. Higher DHL, but not HL, was significantly associated with greater willingness to get a COVID-19 vaccine and the belief that acquiring the disease would negatively impact their life. On average, respondents discussed health with 4-5 people, which did not vary by HL or DHL measures. The usage of online information sources varied by HL and DHL. The study findings can inform future student-focused interventions, including identifying the distinct roles of HL and DHL in pandemic information access, attitudes, and behaviors.

Patient Perception of Plain-Language Medical Notes Generated Using Artificial Intelligence Software: Pilot Mixed-Methods Study

Background

Clinicians’ time with patients has become increasingly limited due to regulatory burden, documentation and billing, administrative responsibilities, and market forces. These factors limit clinicians’ time to deliver thorough explanations to patients. OpenNotes began as a research initiative exploring the ability of sharing medical notes with patients to help patients understand their health care. Providing patients access to their medical notes has been shown to have many benefits, including improved patient satisfaction and clinical outcomes. OpenNotes has since evolved into a national movement that helps clinicians share notes with patients. However, a significant barrier to the widespread adoption of OpenNotes has been clinicians’ concerns that OpenNotes may cost additional time to correct patient confusion over medical language. Recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI) technology may help resolve this concern by converting medical notes to plain language with minimal time required of clinicians.

Objective

This pilot study assesses patient comprehension and perceived benefits, concerns, and insights regarding an AI-simplified note through comprehension questions and guided interview.

Methods

Synthea, a synthetic patient generator, was used to generate a standardized medical-language patient note which was then simplified using AI software. A multiple-choice comprehension assessment questionnaire was drafted with physician input. Study participants were recruited from inpatients at the University of Colorado Hospital. Participants were randomly assigned to be tested for their comprehension of the standardized medical-language version or AI-generated plain-language version of the patient note. Following this, participants reviewed the opposite version of the note and participated in a guided interview. A Student t test was performed to assess for differences in comprehension assessment scores between plain-language and medical-language note groups. Multivariate modeling was performed to assess the impact of demographic variables on comprehension. Interview responses were thematically analyzed.

Results

Twenty patients agreed to participate. The mean number of comprehension assessment questions answered correctly was found to be higher in the plain-language group compared with the medical-language group; however, the Student t test was found to be underpowered to determine if this was significant. Age, ethnicity, and health literacy were found to have a significant impact on comprehension scores by multivariate modeling. Thematic analysis of guided interviews highlighted patients’ perceived benefits, concerns, and suggestions regarding such notes. Major themes of benefits were that simplified plain-language notes may (1) be more useable than unsimplified medical-language notes, (2) improve the patient-clinician relationship, and (3) empower patients through an enhanced understanding of their health care.

Conclusions

AI software may translate medical notes into plain-language notes that are perceived as beneficial by patients. Limitations included sample size, inpatient-only setting, and possible confounding factors. Larger studies are needed to assess comprehension. Insight from patient responses to guided interviews can guide the future study and development of this technology.

The impact of health literacy on medico-social follow-up visits among French cancer survivors 5 years after diagnosis: The national VICAN survey

Background

Long‐term medico‐social follow‐up of cancer survivors is a challenge because of frequent subsequent troubles. In particular survivors with lower health literacy (HL) have poorer health and might more often use primary care services. However, the impact of HL on cancer survivors’ medico‐social follow‐up visits is not known. Our aim was to study medico‐social follow‐up and its associated determinants with a focus on HL 5 years after diagnosis.

Methods

VICAN is a national survey of French adult cancer survivors 5 years after a primary cancer. The Single‐Item Literacy Screener was used to define functional HL in this sample. We also asked patients to report the frequency of follow‐up visits with a general practitioner (GP) and/or social worker (SW) regarding their cancer disease.

Results

The 4045 participants were 57.4 ± 12.9 years old at diagnosis (range 20‐82) and 1495 (37%) were classified as having inadequate HL. Most cancer survivors (66.7%) were followed up by a GP regarding their cancer while only 14.5% had contact with a SW. After adjustment for sociodemographic, medical, and psychosocial characteristics, medico‐social follow‐ups (GP and SW visits) were more frequent among survivors with low HL. Furthermore, low income, unemployment, impaired mental health, treatment by chemotherapy, and perception of sequelae and fatigue were also associated with more frequent medico‐social follow‐up. Cancer localization association with medico‐social follow‐up was heterogeneous.

Conclusion

French cancer survivors with limited HL, lower socioeconomic status, and more severe cancer were more likely to use GP care and social services. Raising awareness and training GPs and SWs on medico‐social follow‐up for patients with limited HL seem necessary to support these vulnerable survivors.

Values clarification and parental decision making about newborn genomic sequencing

OBJECTIVE

Using an online decision aid developed to support parental decision making about newborn genomic sequencing, we tested whether adding a values clarification exercise to educational content would improve decision making outcomes and influence intention to pursue genomic sequencing. We also examined whether the effect of values clarification varied depending on one's health literacy level.

METHOD

In an online experiment, women and men aged 18 to 44 who were either pregnant or had a pregnant partner, were currently trying to get pregnant, or were preparing for a pregnancy within the next 2 years were randomly assigned to complete either a decision aid with educational information about newborn genomic sequencing or a decision aid with the same educational information and a values clarification exercise.

RESULTS

Of the 1,000 participants who completed the decision aid, those who completed the values clarification exercise reported less decision regret, F(1, 995) = 6.19, p = .01, and were clearer about their personal values, F(1, 995) = 6.39, p = .01. Moderation analyses revealed that the benefit of values clarification on decisional conflict was particularly evident among participants with lower health literacy, B = -3.94, SE = 1.67, t = -2.36, p = .018. There was not a significant moderation effect of health literacy and decision aid condition on decision regret.

CONCLUSIONS

Adding a values clarification exercise to decision aids for parents making decisions about genomic sequencing may improve the decision-making experience and provide some benefit to individuals with lower health literacy. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved).

Letramento em saúde: avaliação de pacientes em terapia renal substitutiva

Introdução: considerando a prevalência de pacientes em terapia renal substitutiva, torna-se extremamente revelevante a avaliação da capacidade de entendimento e aplicacação das orientações que esses indíviduos recebem nos serviços de saúde. Objetivo: estudar o impacto do nível de letramento em saúde de pacientes submetidos à hemodiálise, diálise peritoneal e transplante renal, associado aos aspectos cognitivos, adesão medicamentosa e qualidade de vida. Método: estudo transversal, realizado com indivíduos acima de 18 anos, submetidos a algum tipo de terapia renal substitutiva, há três meses consecutivos. Foram aplicadas as versões brasileiras dos instrumentos: Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Portuguese-speaking Adults-18, Mini Exame do Estado Mental, 36-Item Short Form e a escala de Morisky, além de um questionário sobre dados clínicos e sociodemográficos. Resultados: foram avaliados 138 pacientes, sendo 50 (36,2) submetidos à hemodiálise, 23 (16,7%) a diálise peritoneal e 65 (47,1%) ao transplante renal. A média de idade foi 52,0±15,5 anos e 58,0% do sexo masculino. Os pacientes com letramento inadequado (51,4%) tinham renda igual ou inferior a um salário mínimo (P=0,002) e ensino fundamental completo ou inferior (P<0,001). Os indivíduos com letramento adequado apresentavam ensino médio incompleto ou maior escolaridade, renda igual ou superior a cinco salários mínimos e maior escore no domínio dos aspectos emocionais referente a qualidade de vida (P=0,052). Conclusões: nossos resultados sugerem que o nível de letramento está associado com a renda e escolaridade nos pacientes que realizam a substituição da função renal.

Multiple health literacy dimensions are associated with physicians' efforts to achieve shared decision-making

OBJECTIVES

Shared decision-making (SDM) in health care is widely encouraged. However, for SDM to occur patients need to be able to obtain, understand and apply medical information. Our aim was to assess the relationship between health literacy (HL), numeracy and SDM (using French translations of validated measures).

METHODS

A cross-sectional survey using a self-administered online questionnaire was proposed to all members of the Seintinelles association. Several scales were used to measure HL (FCCHL and 3HLQ/SILS), numeracy (SNS-3), the SDM process (CollaboRATE) and explore their inter-relationships.

RESULTS

Data from 2 299 respondents (96.7% women, 46.1% with a history of cancer) were analysed. All measurement scales showed adequate psychometric properties. Functional HL, communicative HL and numeracy were positively associated with SDM while no significant relation was observed between critical HL and SDM. Furthermore, perceived difficulties in asking physicians' questions and deprivation were negatively associated with SDM.

CONCLUSION

Patient support to reach SDM requires high levels of HL, particularly in the functional and communicative domains. Efforts must be made to improve access and understanding of health information.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Brief self-reported measures could be used to screen for low levels of health literacy, tailor information accordingly and improve patient involvement in healthcare decision-making.

Pilot Study Examining Feasibility and Comparing the Effectiveness of Decision Aids for Hip and Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized Trial

Background. There are many patient decision aids (DAs) available, yet there is limited evidence on comparative effectiveness of different tools. Objective. To examine feasibility of a study protocol and gather preliminary data on comparative effectiveness. Methods. Adult patients seeing a surgeon to discuss treatment for hip or knee osteoarthritis were randomized to hip and knee DAs from two vendors. Pre-visit survey included Hip/Knee Decision Quality Instrument, DA usage, health literacy, and quality of life (EQ-5D). Surgical status was ascertained 6 months post-visit. We examined response rates, eligibility, and compared the two DAs on amount of use, knowledge scores, and receipt of preferred treatment. Results. Overall response rate was 58/74 (78%) and did not differ by study arm. More patients in DA-A group reported reviewing all the DAs (64.5% DA-A v. 24.0% DA-B, P = 0.003). Knowledge scores were similar across arms (55.2% DA-A v. 48.8% DA-B, P = 0.4). For DA-B, knowledge scores were higher for those who reviewed all the DAs compared with those who did not (80% knowledge v. 39% knowledge, respectively, P = 0.004), while scores for DA-A did not vary by usage (62% knowledge v. 53% knowledge, respectively, P = 0.3). A similar percentage of each group received their preferred treatment (77% v. 73%, P = 0.8). Patients who were unsure about preferred treatment at baseline were more likely to have surgery in the DA-A arm compared with the DA-B arm (55% v. 20%, P = 0.1). Limitations. Small sample; patients were only surveyed pre-visit. Conclusion. Despite having different content and formats, the two DAs had similar overall effectiveness. Patients were more likely to review all of DA-A; however, patients who reviewed all of DA-B had the highest knowledge scores.

Beyond dialysis decisions: a qualitative exploration of decision-making among culturally and linguistically diverse adults with chronic kidney disease on haemodialysis

BACKGROUND

To date, limited research has been dedicated to exploring the experience of decision-making for chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients who have initiated dialysis and have to make decisions in the context of managing multiple illnesses. Evidence about the experience of decision-making for minority or disadvantaged groups living with CKD (e.g. culturally and linguistically diverse adults; those with lower health literacy or cognitive impairment) is also lacking. This study aimed to explore the experience of healthcare decision-making among culturally and linguistically diverse adults receiving in-centre haemodialysis for advanced CKD.

METHODS

Semi-structured interviews with English or Arabic-speaking adults recruited from four large haemodialysis units in Greater Western Sydney, Australia using stratified, purposive sampling. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using the Framework method.

RESULTS

Interviews were conducted with 35 participants from a range of cultural backgrounds (26 English-language; 9 Arabic-language). One quarter had limited health literacy as assessed by the Single Item Literacy Screener. Four major themes were identified from the data, highlighting that participants had limited awareness of decision-points throughout the CKD trajectory (other than the decision to initiate dialysis), expressed passivity regarding their involvement in healthcare decisions, and reported inconsistent information provision within and across dialysis units. There was diversity within cultural and linguistic groups in terms of preferences and beliefs regarding religiosity, decision-making and internalised prototypical cultural values.

CONCLUSION

Without sustained effort, adults living with CKD may be uninformed about decision points throughout the CKD trajectory and/or unengaged in the process of making decisions. While culture may be an important component of people's lives, cultural assumptions may oversimplify the diverse individual differences that exist within cultural groups.

Health Literacy: Exploring Nursing Challenges to Providing Support and Understanding

BACKGROUND

As patient advocates, oncology nurses must attend to varying levels of health literacy among patients and families. However, little is known about nurses' experiences and comfort with health literacy assessment and providing health literacy support.
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OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study is to explore nurse communication and patient health literacy.
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METHODS

A cross-sectional survey design (N = 74) was used to explore nurse communication challenges with low-literacy patients and to measure nurses' frequency of assisting with patient literacy needs, perceived degree of difficulty communicating with low-literacy populations, and perceived comfort with health literacy support.
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FINDINGS

A majority of the nurses reported communication challenges with patients who spoke English as a second language. Oncology nurses did not identify patient communication behaviors that indicated low health literacy. Nurses were least comfortable identifying low-literacy patients and assessing a patient's health literacy level. More experienced nurses reported more difficulty with low-literacy populations than less experienced nurses. Providing health literacy support to patients should be a core nursing skill.

The Association of Health Literacy and Electronic Health Literacy With Self-Efficacy, Coping, and Caregiving Perceptions Among Carers of People With Dementia: Research Protocol for a Descriptive Correlational Study

Background

In the last decade, electronic health (eHealth) literacy has attracted the attention of the scientific community, as it is associated with the self-management of patients with chronic diseases and the quality and cost of care. It is estimated that 80% of people with chronic diseases are cared for at home by a family member, friend, or relative. Informal carers are susceptible to physical and mental health problems, as well as social and financial hardships. Nevertheless, there seems to be a research gap in terms of carers’ needs, skills, and available resources in the age of new technologies, with the vital role of eHealth literacy of the carers remaining unexplored.

Objective

The aim of this study was to investigate the level of eHealth literacy and health literacy of primary and secondary carers of people with dementia, to explore the association between health and eHealth literacy, as well as their association with the caregiving variables: self-efficacy, coping, and caring perceptions.

Methods

A sample of 200 primary carers (the carer who supports the people with dementia in everyday living) and 200 secondary carers (family member, friend, or other person in the social network assisting the primary carer in their role) will be recruited from dementia day care centers and Alzheimer’s associations in Greece and Cyprus. The study will be a cross-sectional correlational descriptive study. Tools to be used include the eHealth Literacy Scale adapted for carers to measure eHealth literacy, European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire 16 (HLS-EU-Q16), Single Item Literacy Screener, Revised Scale for Caregiving Self-Efficacy, Carers of Older People in Europe (COPE) index for caregiving perceptions, and COPE brief to measure selected coping strategies. Descriptive statistics will be reported, and correlations between different variables will be explored with parametric and nonparametric measures.

Results

As a preliminary study, the HLS-EU-Q16 has been validated in 107 older people. The internal consistency of the scale as estimated using Cronbach alpha coefficient was .77, somewhat lower than other validation studies. Recruitment of pilot study participants started in May 2017.

Conclusions

Carers’ eHealth literacy is a new field. Whereas previous studies have focused on the role and impact of low eHealth literacy and health literacy among older adults, the eHealth literacy of carers, and in fact carers of people with dementia, has not been explored. We hypothesize an association between eHealth literacy and health literacy level with carers’ perceptions about caregiving role, self-efficacy, and coping strategies. A possible moderator in these associations is the secondary carers’ eHealth and health literacy level, which will also be explored. By confirming the above hypotheses, tailored eHealth literacy interventions for carers of people with dementia and their families will be developed as a direct outcome of this research.

Capturing health literacy assessment in the electronic health record through evidence-based concept creation: A review of the literature and recommendations for action

Health literacy is the capacity to understand and act upon health-related information and navigate the healthcare system. Published evidence demonstrates a relationship between health literacy and health status. Because of this, there are increasingly calls for a health literacy assessment to be collected and stored in the electronic health record for use by the healthcare team. This article describes the results of a literature review of health literacy assessment instruments with the goal of formulating semantically interoperable concepts that may be used to store the interpretation of the health literacy assessment in the electronic health record. The majority of health literacy instruments could be stored in the electronic health record using a three-concept solution of inadequate, marginal and adequate health literacy. This three-concept solution fully supports semantic interoperability needs across the patient care spectrum.

Limited health literacy in advanced kidney disease

Limited health literacy may reduce the ability of patients with advanced kidney disease to understand their disease and treatment and take part in shared decision making. In dialysis and transplant patients, limited health literacy has been associated with low socioeconomic status, comorbidity, and mortality. Here, we investigated the prevalence and associations of limited health literacy using data from the United Kingdom-wide Access to Transplantation and Transplant Outcome Measures (ATTOM) program. Incident dialysis, incident transplant, and transplant wait-listed patients ages 18 to 75 were recruited from 2011 to 2013 and data were collected from patient questionnaires and case notes. A score >2 in the Single-Item Literacy Screener was used to define limited health literacy. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify patient factors associated with limited health literacy. We studied 6842 patients, 2621 were incident dialysis, 1959 were wait-listed, and 2262 were incident transplant. Limited health literacy prevalence was 20%, 15%, and 12% in each group, respectively. Limited health literacy was independently associated with low socioeconomic status, poor English fluency, and comorbidity. However, transplant wait-listing, preemptive transplantation, and live-donor transplantation were associated with increasing health literacy.

A Systematic Review of the Prevalence and Associations of Limited Health Literacy in CKD

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

The self-management and decision-making skills required to manage CKD successfully may be diminished in those with low health literacy. A 2012 review identified five papers reporting the prevalence of limited health literacy in CKD, largely from United States dialysis populations. The literature has expanded considerably since.

DESIGN, SETTING, PARTICIPANTS, & MEASUREMENTS

We used systematic review, pooled prevalence analysis, metaregression, and exploration of heterogeneity in studies of patients with CKD (all stages).

RESULTS

From 433 studies, 15 new studies met the inclusion criteria and were analyzed together with five studies from the 2012 review. These included 13 cross-sectional surveys, five cohort studies (using baseline data), and two using baseline clinical trial data. Most (19 of 20) were from the United States. In total, 12,324 patients were studied (3529 nondialysis CKD, 5289 dialysis, 2560 transplant, and 946 with unspecified CKD; median =198.5; IQR, 128.5-260 per study). Median prevalence of limited health literacy within studies was 23% (IQR, 16%-33%), and pooled prevalence was 25% (95% confidence interval, 20% to 30%) with significant between-study heterogeneity (I2=97%). Pooled prevalence of limited health literacy was 25% (95% confidence interval, 16% to 33%; I2=97%) among patients with CKD not on dialysis, 27% (95% confidence interval, 19% to 35%; I2=96%) among patients on dialysis, and 14% (95% confidence interval, 7% to 21%; I2=97%) among patients with transplants. A higher proportion of nonwhite participants was associated with increased limited health literacy prevalence (P=0.04), but participant age was not (P=0.40). Within studies, nonwhite ethnicity and low socioeconomic status were consistently and independently associated with limited health literacy. Studies were of low or moderate quality. Within-study participant selection criteria had potential to introduce bias.

CONCLUSIONS

Limited health literacy is common in CKD, especially among individuals with low socioeconomic status and nonwhite ethnicity. This has implications for the design of self-management and decision-making initiatives to promote equity of care and improve quality. Lower prevalence among patients with transplants may reflect selection of patients with higher health literacy for transplantation either because of less comorbidity in this group or as a direct effect of health literacy on access to transplantation.

Performance of a brief survey to assess health literacy in patients receiving hemodialysis

BACKGROUND

Health literacy is associated with important outcomes among patients with kidney disease, but widely used measures of health literacy can be burdensome. In an effort to make a practical assessment available, we compared the performance of the three-item brief health literacy screen (BHLS) to other widely used measures of health literacy among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD).

METHODS

Adult hemodialysis patients (n = 150) from four urban dialysis facilities participated in a cross-sectional study from 2009 to 2012. Three health literacy measures were administered including (i) the rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine (REALM), (ii) the short test of functional health literacy in adults (S-TOFHLA) and (iii) the three-item BHLS. The mini-mental state exam assessed cognitive status, and the chronic hemodialysis knowledge survey (CHeKS) and perceived kidney disease knowledge survey (PiKS) assessed kidney knowledge. Spearman's ρs and area under the receiver-operating curves examined relationships between the aforementioned variables.

RESULTS

Participants had received dialysis for a mean of 4.6 years. They were 49% female, 73% African American and averaged 52 years of age. Less education and less cognitive capacity were each associated (P < 0.05) with lower health literacy for all three health literacy measures. Performance on the BHLS was significantly associated with the REALM [0.35 (95% confidence interval (95% CI): 0.20-0.49); P < 0.001] and S-TOFHLA [0.49 (95% CI: 0.35-0.69); P < 0.001], the CHeKS [0.43 (95% CI: 0.28-0.55); P < 0.001] and PiKS [0.41 (95% CI: 0.27-0.54); P < 0.001].

CONCLUSIONS

The BHLS demonstrates evidence of construct validity among ESRD patients. Furthermore, health literacy was associated with kidney knowledge, supporting it as a potential intervention target to improve outcomes among patients with lower health literacy.

Understanding barriers to optimal medication management for those requiring long-term dialysis: rationale and design for an observational study, and a quantitative description of study variables and data

BACKGROUND

Rates of medication non-adherence in dialysis patients are high, and improving adherence is likely to improve outcomes. Few data are available regarding factors associated with medication adherence in dialysis patients, and these data are needed to inform effective intervention strategies.

METHODS/DESIGN

This is an observational cross-sectional study of a multi-ethnic dialysis cohort from New Zealand, with the main data collection tool being an interviewer-assisted survey. A total of 100 participants were randomly sampled from a single centre, with selection stratified by ethnicity and dialysis modality (facility versus home). The main outcome measure is self-reported medication adherence using the Morisky 8-Item Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Study data include demographic, clinical, social and psychometric characteristics, the latter being constructs of health literacy, medication knowledge, beliefs about medications, and illness perceptions. Psychometric constructs were assessed through the following survey instruments; health literacy screening questions, the Medication Knowledge Evaluation Tool (Okuyan et al.), the Beliefs about Medication Questionnaire (Horne et al.), the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (Broadbent et al.). Using the study data, reliability analysis for internal consistency is satisfactory for the scales evaluating health literacy, medication knowledge, and beliefs about medications, with Chronbach's α > 0.7 for all. Reliability analysis indicated poor internal consistency for scales relating to illness perceptions. MMAS-8 and all psychometric scores are normally distributed in the study data.

DISCUSSION

This study will provide important information on the factors involved in medication non-adherence in New Zealand dialysis patients. The resulting knowledge will inform long-term initiatives to reduce medication non-adherence in dialysis patients, and help ensure that they are addressing appropriate and evidence based targets for intervention.