Margaret C. Fang|Praveen Panguluri|Edward L. Machtinger|Dean Schillinger
Language, literacy, and characterization of stroke among patients taking warfarin for stroke prevention: Implications for health communication
University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco|University of California, San Francisco
warfarin medication commonly prescribed prevent strokes associated certain medical conditions atrial fibrillation however little known people taking warfarin perceive goal therapy describe strokes assessed strokerelated health literacy anticoagulated patients inform ways improve health communication among people taking warfarinwe conducted mixedmethods study ethnically linguistically diverse sample people taking warfarin prevent stroke n183 measured literacy using shortform test functional health literacy adults asked participants 1 describe indication warfarin 2 describe stroke transcribed answers coded concordant discordant established indications warfarin definitions strokefortythree percent participants provided discordant response describing indication warfarin 93 reported purpose taking warfarin prevent stroke speaking english or24 1156 less college education or33 1473 independently associated discordant answers warfarin nearly 40 subjects inaccurate perceptions stroke onethird subjects described symptom sign stroke among english spanishspeaking participants inadequate literacy strongly associated discordant responses stroke or58 21156among highrisk people taking warfarin prevent stroke significant gaps strokerelated health literacy exist gaps likely represent mismatches ways clinicians teach patients learnsince stroke risk awareness early recognition signs symptoms stroke critical aspects stroke prevention treatment clinicians strongly link warfarin therapy stroke prevention ensure patients know presenting symptoms signs stroke public health communication strategies regarding stroke prevention need target individuals limited literacy limited english proficiency