Mary Margaret Huizinga|Bettina M. Beech|Kerri L. Cavanaugh|Tom A. Elasy|Russell L. Rothman
Low Numeracy Skills Are Associated With Higher BMI
Vanderbilt University Medical Center|Vanderbilt University Medical Center|Vanderbilt University Medical Center|VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System|Vanderbilt University Medical Center|VA Tennessee Valley Healthcare System|Vanderbilt University Medical Center
low numeracy skills obesity common numeracy skills used healthy weight management monitor caloric intake relationship obesity numeracy skills adult primary care patients unknown crosssectional study enrolled adult englishspeaking primary care patients bmi assessed selfreport numeracy literacy skills measured wide range achievement test 3rd edition wrat3 rapid estimate adult literacy medicine realm respectively relationship numeracy bmi described spearmans rank correlation linear regression analyses 160 patients mean sd age 46 16 years 66 white 70 female 91 completed high school mean bmi 305 83 kgm2 less 9th grade numeracy skills found 66 participants participants numeracy skills 9th grade mean bmi 318 90 whereas numeracy skills 9th grade mean bmi 279 60 p 0008 numeracy negatively significantly correlated bmi rho 026 p 0001 correlation persisted adjusting age sex race income years education literacy beta coefficient 014 p 0010 literacy skills associated bmi found significant association low numeracy skills higher bmi adult primary care patients causal relationship cannot determined however numeracy may important clinical implications design implementation healthy weight management interventions evaluated determine magnitude effect