Health Literacy in an Adult Dental Research Population: A Pilot Study
Health Literacy in an Adult Dental Research Population: A Pilot Study
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DOI：
10.1111/j.1752-7325.2007.00063.x
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发表时间：
2008-09-01
影响因子：
2.3
通讯作者：
Eckert, George J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Jackson, Richard D.;Eckert, George J.
目的：这项调查的目的是收集有关经常自愿参加我们临床研究项目的成年人的健康素养水平的数据。方法：一个方便的样本99名成年人从我们的数据库中的主题参加了一系列正在进行的调查。健康素养的测量使用成人功能健康素养的简短测试（S-TOFHLA）。通过问卷调查收集了更多的人口和社会经济数据。结果如下：结果表明，13%的受试者在S-TOFHLA标准所描述的“不足”或“边缘”类别中得分。健康素养不足或边缘与种族，性别和年龄有关。不幸的是，样本量太小，无法确定这些变量的相互作用。结论：进行临床研究调查的牙科教师应该认识到这样一个事实，即一部分成年人，特别是老年人，可能难以阅读书面说明，知情同意书，处方和其他文件。研究人员应尽一切努力确保以文本形式提供的信息以读者易于理解的方式提供。应避免使用技术术语和行话，如果使用，应使用简单明了的语言进行解释。如果潜在受试者遇到困难，研究者有义务花额外的时间使用替代方法对潜在受试者进行教育。
Objective: The purpose of this investigation was to gather data concerning the level of health literacy in adults who frequently volunteer for our clinical research programs. Methods: A convenience sample of 99 adults was recruited from our database of subjects taking part in an ongoing series of investigations. Health literacy was measured using the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA). Additional demographic and socioeconomic data were collected by means of a questionnaire. Results: The results indicated that 13 percent of the cohort of subjects scored in the "inadequate" or "marginal" categories as described by the criteria of the S-TOFHLA. Inadequate or marginal health literacy was associated with race, gender, and age. Unfortunately, the sample size was too small to determine the interaction of these variables. Conclusions: Dental faculty conducting clinical research investigations should be cognizant of the fact that a portion of adults, especially older adults, may have difficulty reading written instructions, informational letters of consent, prescriptions, and other documents. Researchers should make every effort to ensure that information provided in text form is provided in a manner that is easily understandable to the reader. Technical terminology and jargon should be avoided or if used, it should be explained in plain, simple language. If a potential subject is having difficulty, the investigator is obligated to take the additional time to educate the potential subject using alternative methods.