The right pick: Does a self-assessment measurement tool correctly identify health care consumers with inadequate health literacy?

Peter J. Schulz; Bernt Lindahl; Uwe Hartung; Ulf Naslund; Margareta Norberg; Steven Nordin

doi:10.1016/j.pec.2021.07.045

The right pick: Does a self-assessment measurement tool correctly identify health care consumers with inadequate health literacy?

Peter J. Schulz, Bernt Lindahl, Uwe Hartung, Ulf Naslund, Margareta Norberg, Steven Nordin

Division of Communication & Media

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a self-report measurement instrument (the Brief Health Literacy Screen, BHLS) correctly identifies healthcare consumers with inadequate health literacy. The yardstick for assessing the tool was the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Methods: The study used baseline data from the Västerbotten Intervention Programme - VIsualiZation of Asymptomatic Atherosclerotic disease for Optimum Cardiovascular Prevention (VIPVIZA), a randomized controlled trial that is nested within the Västerbotten Intervention Program (VIP) in Sweden. Our analyses were computed on a subsample of 460 persons who underwent the measure of both health literacy scales. ROC analysis was used for the crucial computations. Results: The potential of the BHLS to identify healthcare consumers with inadequate health literacy remained unsatisfying for the complete sample, but reached an acceptable level for women and persons with only basic education. Conclusions: The relationship is somewhat weaker than in comparable research in various other European countries. The differences might partly have been caused by the use of self-perception questions. Self-delusions, invariably a part of self-perception, may have affected the respective measure. Practice implications: Caution is advised when patients’ health literacy is assessed by only a few questions for self-report.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	926-932
Number of pages	7
Journal	Patient Education and Counseling
Volume	105
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pec.2021.07.045
State	Published - Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Grant support: Region Västerbotten (Central ALF, Dnr ALFVLL-298001 and ALFVLL-643391), the Swedish Research Council (Dnr 521-2013-2708, 2016-01891, 2017-02246 ), the Heart and Lung Foundation (Dnr 20150369, 20170481 ), SKANDIA Risk & Health, and an unconditional donation from Carl Bennet Ltd, Sweden. In addition to major grants, VIPVIZA was also funded by the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Heart Foundation in Northern Sweden, STROKE – the national association, The Swedish Insurance Society, Visare Norr (the four Northern Regions), and the Swedish and the Västerbotten Heart and Lung Associations. The funders of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data interpretation, or writing of the report.

Funding Information:
Grant support: Region V?sterbotten (Central ALF, Dnr ALFVLL-298001 and ALFVLL-643391), the Swedish Research Council (Dnr 521-2013-2708, 2016-01891, 2017-02246), the Heart and Lung Foundation (Dnr 20150369, 20170481), SKANDIA Risk & Health, and an unconditional donation from Carl Bennet Ltd, Sweden. In addition to major grants, VIPVIZA was also funded by the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Heart Foundation in Northern Sweden, STROKE ? the national association, The Swedish Insurance Society, Visare Norr (the four Northern Regions), and the Swedish and the V?sterbotten Heart and Lung Associations. The funders of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data interpretation, or writing of the report.

Funding Information:
Funding was received from Västerbotten County Council, the Swedish Research Council, the Heart and Lung Foundation, the Swedish Society of Medicine, and Carl Bennet Ltd, Sweden.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021

Keywords

Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS)
Health literacy, Self-report measures
Newest Vital Signs (NVS)
Performance-based measures

Access to Document

10.1016/j.pec.2021.07.045

Cite this

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title = "The right pick: Does a self-assessment measurement tool correctly identify health care consumers with inadequate health literacy?",

abstract = "Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate whether a self-report measurement instrument (the Brief Health Literacy Screen, BHLS) correctly identifies healthcare consumers with inadequate health literacy. The yardstick for assessing the tool was the Newest Vital Sign (NVS). Methods: The study used baseline data from the V{\"a}sterbotten Intervention Programme - VIsualiZation of Asymptomatic Atherosclerotic disease for Optimum Cardiovascular Prevention (VIPVIZA), a randomized controlled trial that is nested within the V{\"a}sterbotten Intervention Program (VIP) in Sweden. Our analyses were computed on a subsample of 460 persons who underwent the measure of both health literacy scales. ROC analysis was used for the crucial computations. Results: The potential of the BHLS to identify healthcare consumers with inadequate health literacy remained unsatisfying for the complete sample, but reached an acceptable level for women and persons with only basic education. Conclusions: The relationship is somewhat weaker than in comparable research in various other European countries. The differences might partly have been caused by the use of self-perception questions. Self-delusions, invariably a part of self-perception, may have affected the respective measure. Practice implications: Caution is advised when patients{\textquoteright} health literacy is assessed by only a few questions for self-report.",

keywords = "Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS), Health literacy, Self-report measures, Newest Vital Signs (NVS), Performance-based measures",

author = "Schulz, {Peter J.} and Bernt Lindahl and Uwe Hartung and Ulf Naslund and Margareta Norberg and Steven Nordin",

note = "Funding Information: Grant support: Region V{\"a}sterbotten (Central ALF, Dnr ALFVLL-298001 and ALFVLL-643391), the Swedish Research Council (Dnr 521-2013-2708, 2016-01891, 2017-02246 ), the Heart and Lung Foundation (Dnr 20150369, 20170481 ), SKANDIA Risk & Health, and an unconditional donation from Carl Bennet Ltd, Sweden. In addition to major grants, VIPVIZA was also funded by the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Heart Foundation in Northern Sweden, STROKE – the national association, The Swedish Insurance Society, Visare Norr (the four Northern Regions), and the Swedish and the V{\"a}sterbotten Heart and Lung Associations. The funders of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data interpretation, or writing of the report. Funding Information: Grant support: Region V?sterbotten (Central ALF, Dnr ALFVLL-298001 and ALFVLL-643391), the Swedish Research Council (Dnr 521-2013-2708, 2016-01891, 2017-02246), the Heart and Lung Foundation (Dnr 20150369, 20170481), SKANDIA Risk & Health, and an unconditional donation from Carl Bennet Ltd, Sweden. In addition to major grants, VIPVIZA was also funded by the Swedish Society of Medicine, the Heart Foundation in Northern Sweden, STROKE ? the national association, The Swedish Insurance Society, Visare Norr (the four Northern Regions), and the Swedish and the V?sterbotten Heart and Lung Associations. The funders of the study had no role in the study design, data collection, data interpretation, or writing of the report. Funding Information: Funding was received from V{\"a}sterbotten County Council, the Swedish Research Council, the Heart and Lung Foundation, the Swedish Society of Medicine, and Carl Bennet Ltd, Sweden. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2021",

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month = apr,

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AU - Hartung, Uwe

AU - Naslund, Ulf

AU - Norberg, Margareta

AU - Nordin, Steven

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KW - Performance-based measures

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The right pick: Does a self-assessment measurement tool correctly identify health care consumers with inadequate health literacy?

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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