Theodore A. Omachi|Urmimala Sarkar|Edward H. Yelin|Paul D. Blanc|Patricia Katz
Lower Health Literacy is Associated with Poorer Health Status and Outcomes in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco
limited health literacy associated poor outcomes many chronic diseases little known health literacy chronic obstructive pulmonary disease copdto examine associations health literacy outcomes health status copd participants design main measures structured interviews administered 277 subjects selfreport physiciandiagnosed copd recruited us randomdigit telephone dialing health literacy measured validated threeitem battery multivariable linear regression controlling sociodemographics including income education determined crosssectional associations health literacy copdrelated health status copd severity score copd helplessness index airways questionnaire20r measuring respiratoryspecific healthrelated quality life hrqol multivariable logistic regression estimated associations health literacy copdrelated hospitalizations emergency department ed visitstaking socioeconomic status account poorer health literacy lowest tertile compared highest tertile associated worse copd severity 23 points 95 ci 0344 greater copd helplessness 37 points 95 ci 1658 worse respiratoryspecific hrqol 35 points 95 ci 1849 poorer health literacy also controlling covariates associated higher likelihood copdrelated hospitalizations 66 95 ci 1333 copdrelated ed visits 47 95 ci 1515 analyses trend across health literacy tertiles statistically significant p 005 outcomesindependent socioeconomic status poor health literacy associated greater copd severity greater copd helplessness worse respiratoryspecific hrqol higher odds copdrelated emergency healthcare utilization results underscore copd patients poor health literacy may particular risk poor healthrelated outcomes