David W. Baker|Ruth M. Parker|Mark Williams|William S. Clark
Health literacy and the risk of hospital admission
MetroHealth Medical Center|Case Western Reserve University|Emory University|Emory University|Georgia Department of Public Health
determine association patient literacy hospitalizationprospective cohort studyurban public hospitala total 979 emergency department patients participated literacy health care study completed intake interview literacy testing test functional health literacy adults eligible study 958 978 electronic medical record available 1994 1995hospital admissions grady memorial hospital 1994 1995 determined hospital information system used multivariate logistic regression determine independent association inadequate functional health literacy hospital admission patients inadequate literacy twice likely patients adequate literacy hospitalized 1994 1995 31 5 vs 149 p 001 adjusting age gender race selfreported health socioeconomic status health insurance patients inadequate literacy likely hospitalized patients adequate literacy adjusted odds ratio 169 95 confidence interval ci 113 253 association inadequate literacy hospital admission strongest among patients hospitalized year study entry 315 95 ci 145 685in study population patients inadequate functional health literacy increased risk hospital admission