Ethan G. Jaffee|Vineet M. Arora|Madeleine I. Matthiesen|David Meltzer|Valerie G. Press
Health Literacy and Hospital Length of Stay: An Inpatient Cohort Study
McLean Hospital|Massachusetts General Hospital|University of Chicago|Massachusetts General Hospital|University of Chicago|University of Chicago
associations low health literacy hl adverse health outcomes well documented outpatient setting however studies examined associations low hl inhospital outcomesto compare hospital length stay los among patients low hl adequate hlhospitalbased cohort studyacademic urban tertiarycare hospitalhospitalized general medicine patientswe measured hl using brief health literacy screen severity illness los obtained administrative data multivariable linear regression controlling illness severity sociodemographic variables employed measure association hl losamong 5540 participants 20 11045540 low hl participants low hl longer average los 60 vs 54 days p 0001 low hl associated 111 longer los 95 confidence interval ci 61161 p 0001 multivariate analysis effect significantly modified gender p 002 low hl associated 178 longer los among men 95 ci 100257 p 0001 77 longer los among women 95 ci 19135 p 0009in singlecenter cohort study low hl associated longer hospital los findings suggest adverse effects low hl may extend inpatient setting indicating targeted interventions may needed patients low hl work needed explore negative consequences potential mitigating factors