Julie A. Gazmararian
Health Literacy Among Medicare Enrollees in a Managed Care Organization
Emory University|Williams (United States)|MetroHealth Medical Center|Case Western Reserve University|Prudential Financial (United States)
elderly patients may limited ability read comprehend medical information pertinent healthto determine prevalence low functional health literacy among communitydwelling medicare enrollees national managed care organizationcrosssectional surveyfour prudential healthcare plans cleveland ohio houston tex south florida tampa flaa total 3260 new medicare enrollees aged 65 years older interviewed person june december 1997 853 cleveland 498 houston 975 south florida 934 tampa 2956 spoke english 304 spoke spanish native language main outcome measure functional health literacy measured short test functional health literacy adultsoverall 339 englishspeaking 539 spanishspeaking respondents inadequate marginal health literacy prevalence inadequate marginal functional health literacy among english speakers ranged 268 440 multivariate analysis study location racelanguage age years school completed occupation cognitive impairment significantly associated inadequate marginal literacy reading ability declined dramatically age even adjusting years school completed cognitive impairment adjusted odds ratio inadequate marginal health literacy 862 95 confidence interval 5551338 enrollees aged 85 years older compared individuals aged 65 69 yearselderly managed care enrollees may literacy skills necessary function adequately health care environment low health literacy may impair elderly patients understanding health messages limit ability care medical problems