Michael N. Barber|Margaret Staples|Richard H. Osborne|Rosemary Clerehan|Catherine Elder|Rachelle Buchbinder
Up to a quarter of the Australian population may have suboptimal health literacy depending upon the measurement tool: results from a population-based survey
Cabrini Hospital|The Heart Research Institute|General Department of Preventive Medicine|Cabrini Hospital|Deakin University|Monash University|General Department of Preventive Medicine|Cabrini Hospital
objective paper measure health literacy representative sample australian general population using three health literacy tools consider congruency results determine whether assessments associated sociodemographic characteristics facetoface interviews conducted stratified random sample adult victorian population identified 2004 australian government electoral roll participants invited participate mail followup telephone call health literacy measured using rapid estimate adult literacy medicine realm test functional health literacy adults tofhla newest vital sign nvs 1680 people invited participate 89 53 ineligible 750 446 contactable phone 531 32 refused 310 response rate 3101591 195 agreed participate compared general population participants slightly older better educated higher annual income proportion participants less adequate health literacy levels varied 260 80308 nvs 106 51 33310 realm 68 21309 tofhla varying significant proportion general population found limited health literacy health literacy measures used moderately correlated appear measure different related constructs use different cut offs indicate poor health literacy