As defined by Wikipaedia, Health literacy is an individual's ability to read, understand and use healthcare information to make decisions and follow instructions for treatment. The quoted studies reveal that up to half of patients cannot understand basic healthcare information. Low health literacy reduces the success of treatment and increases the risk of medical error. And there is a test (called ‘TOFHLA’) for measuring a patient’s literacy skills. According to data from this test; a high proportion of patients cannot perform basic reading tasks but additional work is needed to determine the prevalence of functional health illiteracy and its effect on the health care experience.
For further information on TOFHLA - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8576769
What does low Health Literacy mean in real terms?
One study entitled, “Health literacy and self-efficacy for participating in colorectal cancer screening: The role of information processing” aimed to document the association between health literacy and willingness and ability to seek information about the new colorectal cancer (CRC) screening program in the UK. It concluded that, “Lower health literacy had a direct impact on information-seeking. It was also independently associated with perceived confidence to participate in screening” with the practice implication being; “Reliance on printed communication when inviting low literate adults for screening can be problematic. The independent association between health literacy and self-efficacy further adds to the challenge of developing accessible and effective health promotion materials in this area.”
For further information on this study - http://www.healthliteracy.org.uk/
If this model applies across all the medical disciplines then the lower your health literacy, the less likely you are to participate in a health screen, and then probably less likely to take advice on healthier lifestyles i.e. there is likely to be a good correlation, for example, between obesity with associated levels of HDL (high density lipid) and HL (health literacy).
