Assessment of health literacy in adolescents with spina bifida and their caregivers: a multi-institutional study

and Objective: Health literacy is defined as the ability to obtain, integrate, and appraise health-related knowledge. It is known to correlate with disparities in clinical outcomes in adults with chronic disease. Patients with spina bifida represent a potentially vulnerable cohort as they often have...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric urology 2020-04, Vol.16 (2), p.167.e1-167.e6
Main Authors: Lightfoot, Michelle A., Cheng, Julie W., Hu, Xiaowen, Tschokert, Merete, McCracken, Courtney, Kirsch, Andrew J., Smith, Edwin A., Cerwinka, Wolfgang H., Arlen, Angela M., Chamberlin, David A., Garcia-Roig, Michael L.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Health education
Health literacy
Numeracy
Spina bifida
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Summary:and Objective: Health literacy is defined as the ability to obtain, integrate, and appraise health-related knowledge. It is known to correlate with disparities in clinical outcomes in adults with chronic disease. Patients with spina bifida represent a potentially vulnerable cohort as they often have multiple comorbidities. The authors aimed to characterize health literacy in adolescent patients with spina bifida and their caregivers. The Newest Vital Sign (NVS), a validated assessment of health literacy and numeracy, was administered to patients (aged ≥10 years) and caregivers in outpatient pediatric urology and multidisciplinary spina bifida clinics. Subjects not fluent in English or Spanish and those with cognitive delay were excluded. Survey responses and demographic information were analyzed and compared between the spina bifida and control groups. Three hundred eleven caregivers (caregivers for patients with spina bifida: 185, caregivers for the controls: 126) and 84 adolescents (those with spina bifida: 46, controls: 38) completed the NVS. Although there was no difference in health literacy between caregivers (p = 0.98), adolescents with spina bifida demonstrated lower NVS scores (spina bifida 1 [0–3] vs. control 2 [2–4]; p = 0.02) (Figure). Health literacy of patients with spina bifida and controls increased with age (p = 0.002). Adjusting for age and gender, the odds of having limited literacy were 5.5 times higher in patients with spina bifida than in the controls (p = 0.004). Inadequate caregiver health literacy was associated with a lower education level (p 
ISSN:1477-5131
1873-4898
DOI:10.1016/j.jpurol.2019.11.016