Factors associated with health literacy in multimorbid patients in primary care: a cross-sectional study in Switzerland.

N'Goran, Alexandra A; Pasquier, Jérôme; Deruaz-Luyet, Anouk; Burnand, Bernard; Haller, Dagmar M; Neuner-Jehle, Stefan; Zeller, Andreas; Streit, Sven; Herzig, Lilli; Bodenmann, Patrick (2018). Factors associated with health literacy in multimorbid patients in primary care: a cross-sectional study in Switzerland. BMJ open, 8(2), e018281. BMJ Publishing Group 10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018281

[img]
Preview
Text
N'Goran BMJOpen 2018.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons: Attribution-Noncommercial (CC-BY-NC).

Download (314kB) | Preview

OBJECTIVE

To identify factors associated with health literacy in multimorbid patients.

DESIGN

A nationwide cross-sectional study in Switzerland. Univariate and multivariate linear regressions were calculated to identify variables associated with health literacy. A multiple imputation approach was used to deal with missing values.

PARTICIPANTS

Multimorbid patients recruited in primary care settings (n=888), above 18 years old and suffering from at least 3 of 75 chronic conditions on a predefined list based on the International Classification of Primary Care 2.

MAIN MEASURES

Health literacy was assessed using the European Health Literacy Survey project questionnaire (HLS-EU 6). This comprises six items scored from 1 to 4 (very difficult=1, fairly difficult=2, fairly easy=3, very easy=4), and the total health literacy score is computed as their mean. As we wished to understand the determinants associated with lower health literacy, the HLS-EU 6 score was the only dependent variable; all other covariates were considered independent.

RESULTS

The mean health literacy score (SD) was 2.9 (0.5). Multivariate analyses found significant associations between low health literacy scores and treatment burden scores (β=-0.004, 95% CI -0.006 to 0.002); marital status, predominantly the divorced group (β=0.136, 95% CI 0.012 to 0.260); dimensions of the EuroQuol 5 Dimension 3 Level (EQ5D3L) quality of life assessment, that is, for moderate problems with mobility (β=-0.086, 95% CI -0.157 to 0.016); and with moderate problems (β=-0.129, 95% CI -0.198 to 0.060) and severe problems with anxiety/depression (β=-0.343, 95% CI -0.500 to 0.186).

CONCLUSIONS

Multimorbid patients with a high treatment burden, altered quality of life by problems with mobility, anxiety or depression, often also have low levels of health literacy. Primary care practitioners should therefore pay particular attention to these patients in their daily practice.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Medical Education > Institute of General Practice and Primary Care (BIHAM)

UniBE Contributor:

Streit, Sven

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

2044-6055

Publisher:

BMJ Publishing Group

Language:

English

Submitter:

Doris Kopp Heim

Date Deposited:

13 Mar 2018 13:35

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:11

Publisher DOI:

10.1136/bmjopen-2017-018281

PubMed ID:

29440210

Uncontrolled Keywords:

general medicine (see internal medicine) primary care public health

BORIS DOI:

10.7892/boris.112894

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/112894

Actions (login required)

Edit item Edit item
Provide Feedback