Department of Radiation Oncology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322-1013, USA.
Am J Otolaryngol. 2010 Jan-Feb;31(1):29-31. doi: 10.1016/j.amjoto.2008.09.011. Epub 2009 Mar 26.
Literacy in the head and neck cancer patient has been understudied. Health literacy (HL) is "the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health care decisions." Limited HL skills reduce access to health care. We surveyed our patients who underwent total laryngectomy (TL) to evaluate their HL.
Patients who had undergone TL at Grady Hospital (Atlanta, GA), an inner-city hospital, between 1988 and 1992 were identified. Sociodemographics, general health quality of life, HL, and alaryngeal voice assessment were performed.
Thirty patients were eligible but 14 could not be located, 4 refused, and 4 were deceased or too ill to participate. More than one third of the remaining patients had severely inadequate HL scores.
Patients who underwent TL have a high incidence of becoming lost in the system as well as having inadequate health care literacy. Health literacy may be important when considering TL.
头颈部癌症患者的文化素养研究较少。健康素养（HL）是“个体获取、处理和理解基本健康信息和服务以做出适当医疗决策所需的能力程度”。有限的 HL 技能会减少获得医疗保健的机会。我们调查了在亚特兰大头颈部癌症中心（Grady Hospital）接受全喉切除术（TL）的患者，以评估他们的 HL。
在 1988 年至 1992 年间，在佐治亚州亚特兰大头颈部癌症中心接受 TL 的患者被确定为研究对象。进行了社会人口统计学、一般健康生活质量、HL 和无喉语音评估。
30 名患者符合条件，但有 14 名无法联系到，4 名拒绝，4 名死亡或病得太重无法参与。其余患者中有超过三分之一的人 HL 评分严重不足。
接受 TL 的患者在系统中迷失和缺乏足够的医疗保健素养的发生率很高。在考虑 TL 时，健康素养可能很重要。
