Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Department of Orthopedics and Trauma Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2024 Oct;136(19-20):540-546. doi: 10.1007/s00508-024-02389-3. Epub 2024 Jul 31.
Health literacy (HL) refers to the ability to understand and process information provided by the healthcare system and depends on various factors, such as language comprehension, education, and social environment. Low HL was recently associated with increased readmission, morbidity, and mortality. Little is known about HL levels in physical trauma patients. The aim of this study was to determine general HL in physical trauma patients in an outpatient setting and to evaluate possible differences based on demographic characteristics.
A total of 100 physical trauma patients were recruited in the outpatient trauma facility of the Medical University of Vienna. All recruited patients completed the German Short Test of Functional Health Literacy (S-TOFHLA).
The evaluated HL index ranged between 20 and 36 points (highest achievable score: 36 points), with the mean value calculated at 34.3 (adequate). Out of 100 participants, 97 patients (97%) showed adequate HL and 3 patients (3%) reached a score corresponding to a marginal understanding. No patient showed inadequate HL utilizing the S‑TOFHLA tool. No significant differences were found between different demographic categories, including age, education level, native language, and injury location.
In this study, included outpatient trauma patients demonstrated an overall adequate understanding of healthcare related information. Age, sociodemographic background, and/or educational status did not influence performance, which leads to the question as to whether the German version of the S‑TOFHLA is valid to representatively measure HL in these patients. Furthermore, regarding the obvious shortcomings of the S‑TOFHLA, the education standard of the respective population should be taken into consideration when choosing an appropriate testing tool.
健康素养（HL）是指理解和处理医疗保健系统提供的信息的能力，取决于语言理解能力、教育程度和社会环境等多种因素。最近，HL 水平较低与再入院率、发病率和死亡率增加有关。关于身体创伤患者的 HL 水平知之甚少。本研究旨在确定门诊身体创伤患者的一般 HL，并评估基于人口统计学特征的可能差异。
共招募了 100 名在维也纳医科大学门诊创伤中心的身体创伤患者。所有入组患者均完成了德国短期功能性健康素养测试（S-TOFHLA）。
评估的 HL 指数范围在 20 至 36 分之间（最高得分为 36 分），平均值为 34.3（适当）。在 100 名参与者中，97 名患者（97%）表现出适当的 HL，3 名患者（3%）的得分对应于边缘理解。使用 S-TOFHLA 工具没有患者表现出 HL 不足。不同人口统计学类别（包括年龄、教育水平、母语和受伤部位）之间没有发现显著差异。
在这项研究中，包括门诊创伤患者在内的所有患者对与医疗保健相关的信息都有足够的理解。年龄、社会人口统计学背景和/或教育程度并未影响表现，这引发了一个问题，即德国版 S-TOFHLA 是否能够代表这些患者的 HL 进行有效测量。此外，鉴于 S-TOFHLA 的明显缺陷，在选择适当的测试工具时，应考虑到相关人群的教育水平。
