Caregiver Health Literacy and the Use of Child Health Services

Author:

Sanders Lee M.1,Thompson Valerie T.1,Wilkinson James D.1

Affiliation:

1. Department of Pediatrics, University of Miami School of Medicine, Miami, Florida

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. Eighty million US adults have low health literacy, a risk factor for increased health care use among adults. The purpose of this work was to assess the association between caregiver health literacy and the use and cost of child health services. METHODS. We conducted a cross-sectional study of caregiver-child dyads from a sample of children aged 12 months to 12 years presenting to the pediatric emergency department of an urban, public hospital. Caregiver health literacy was measured by the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in their preferred language (English or Spanish). Child health care use was measured by a 12-month retrospective review of the public hospital system's electronic database and of state Medicaid billing records for 4 types of visits: preventive care, urgent care, emergency care, and hospital care. Cost of child health care use was provided by Medicaid billing records. Multivariate analysis included caregiver education, age, and language proficiency, as well as child age, special health care needs, ethnicity, and health-insurance coverage. RESULTS. A total of 290 dyads were enrolled in the study. Twenty-two percent of caregivers had low (inadequate or marginal) health literacy. Caregivers with low health literacy were more likely to have less than a high school education, to have limited English proficiency, and to have been born outside the United States. There were no differences in health care use or cost between children of caregivers with low health literacy and children of caregivers with adequate health literacy. Three caregiver characteristics were associated with increased use of child health care services: born outside the United States, age at child’s birth <24 years, and limited English proficiency. CONCLUSIONS. One in 5 caregivers of young children has low health literacy. Caregiver health literacy, however, was not associated with disparities in the use of child health services in this inner-city, ethnic minority population.

Publisher

American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)

Subject

Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health

Reference37 articles.

1. Nielsen-Bohlman L, Panzer A, Kindig DA. Committee on Health Literacy, Institute of Medicine. Health Literacy: A Prescription to End Confusion. Washington, DC: National Academies Press; 2004

2. Ratzan SC, Parker RM. Introduction. In: National Library of Medicine Current Bibliographies in Medicine: Health Literacy. Selden CR, Zorn M, Ratzan SC, Parker RM, Eds. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, US Department of Health and Human Services; 2000

3. Kutner M, Greenburg E, Jin Y, Paulsen C. The Health Literacy of America’s Adults: Results From the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics; 2006

4. Kirsch I, Yamamoto K, Norris N, et al. Technical Report and Data File Users Manual for the 1992 National Adult Literacy Survey. Washington, DC: National Center for Education Statistics, US Department of Education; 2000

5. Williams MV, Parker RM, Baker DW, et al. Inadequate functional health literacy among patients at two hospitals. JAMA. 1995;274:1677–1682

同舟云学术

1.学者识别学者识别

2.学术分析学术分析

3.人才评估人才评估

"同舟云学术"是以全球学者为主线,采集、加工和组织学术论文而形成的新型学术文献查询和分析系统,可以对全球学者进行文献检索和人才价值评估。用户可以通过关注某些学科领域的顶尖人物而持续追踪该领域的学科进展和研究前沿。经过近期的数据扩容,当前同舟云学术共收录了国内外主流学术期刊6万余种,收集的期刊论文及会议论文总量共计约1.5亿篇,并以每天添加12000余篇中外论文的速度递增。我们也可以为用户提供个性化、定制化的学者数据。欢迎来电咨询!咨询电话:010-8811{复制后删除}0370

www.globalauthorid.com

TOP

Copyright © 2019-2024 北京同舟云网络信息技术有限公司
京公网安备11010802033243号  京ICP备18003416号-3