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Screening for oral health literacy in an urban dental clinic
Author(s) -
Atchison Kathryn A.,
Gironda Melanie W.,
Messadi Diana,
DerMartirosian Claudia
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal of public health dentistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.64
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1752-7325
pISSN - 0022-4006
DOI - 10.1111/j.1752-7325.2010.00181.x
Subject(s) - health literacy , realm , literacy , medicine , scale (ratio) , health care , family medicine , population , gerontology , test (biology) , psychology , environmental health , pedagogy , paleontology , physics , quantum mechanics , political science , law , economics , biology , economic growth
Objective: Studies show that the average person fails to understand and use health care related materials to their full potential. The goal of this study was to evaluate a health literacy instrument based on the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) that incorporates dental and medical terms into one 84‐item Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine and Dentistry (REALM‐D) measure and determine its association with patient characteristics of a culturally diverse dental clinic population. Methods: An 84‐item dental/medical health literacy word list and a 48‐item health beliefs and attitudes survey was provided to a sample of 200 adult patients seeking treatment for the first time at an oral diagnosis clinic located in a large urban medical center in Los Angeles, California. Results: Of the total sample, 154 participants read all of list 1 correctly, 141 read list 2 correctly, and only 38 read list 3 correctly. Nonwhite participants had significantly lower REALM‐D scores at each level of difficulty as well as the total scale score compared to white participants. Participants who reported English as not their main language had significantly lower REALM‐D scores. REALM‐D scores also varied significantly by level of education among participants where as level of education increased, oral health literacy increased. At a bivariate level, race, education, and English as a main language remain predictive of health literacy in a regression model. An interaction between education and English as a main language was significant. Conclusions: The REALM‐D is an effective instrument for use by medical and dental clinicians in detecting differences among people of different backgrounds and for whom English was not their primary language.