Should We Be Afraid of Simple Messages? The Effects of Text Difficulty and Illustrations in People With Low or High Health Literacy
Should We Be Afraid of Simple Messages? The Effects of Text Difficulty and Illustrations in People With Low or High Health Literacy
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DOI：
10.1080/10410236.2015.1037425
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发表时间：
2015-12-02
影响因子：
3.9
通讯作者：
van Weert, Julia C. M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Meppelink, Corine S.;Smit, Edith G.;van Weert, Julia C. M.
人们经常建议，应该为健康素养较低的人简化健康信息。然而，关于适应低健康素养受众的信息是否对健康素养高的人也有效，或者简单的信息在这一群体中是否适得其反，人们知之甚少。使用2乘2(图解与纯文本)和2乘2(非困难与困难文本)的受试者间设计，我们测试了低健康素养(n=279)和高健康素养(n=280)的老年人对结直肠癌筛查信息的反应是否不同。结果表明，当文本不难时，两个健康素养组都能最好地回忆信息。降低文本难度并不会导致在健康素养较高的人群中持负面态度或减少筛查意向。插图在改善记忆力和态度方面的好处，只有在健康素养较低的人中才能发现，他们接触到了困难的文本。对于健康素养较高的人来说，这一点并不存在。在知情决定方面，在低健康素养组中，不复杂和图文并茂的信息会产生最好的知情决定，而高健康素养组总体上受益于非难文本，而不考虑插图。我们的发现表明，适合较低健康素养群体的材料也可以用于更一般的受众，因为它们不会阻止健康素养较高的人。
It is often recommended that health information should be simplified for people with low health literacy. However, little is known about whether messages adapted to low health literacy audiences are also effective for people with high health literacy, or whether simple messages are counterproductive in this group. Using a two (illustrated vs. text-only) by two (nondifficult vs. difficult text) between-subjects design, we test whether older adults with low (n = 279) versus high health literacy (n = 280) respond differently to colorectal cancer screening messages. Results showed that both health literacy groups recalled information best when the text was nondifficult. Reduced text difficulty did not lead to negative attitudes or less intention to have screening among people with high health literacy. Benefits of illustrations, in terms of improved recall and attitudes, were only found in people with low health literacy who were exposed to difficult texts. This was not found for people with high health literacy. In terms of informed decisions, nondifficult and illustrated messages resulted in the best informed decisions in the low health literacy group, whereas the high health literacy group benefited from nondifficult text in general, regardless of illustrations. Our findings imply that materials adapted to lower health literacy groups can also be used for a more general audience, as they do not deter people with high health literacy.