Weiss B D, Reed R L, Kligman E W
Patient Educ Couns. 1995 May;25(2):109-19. doi: 10.1016/0738-3991(95)00710-h.
The objectives of this study were to (a) characterize the literacy skills of low-income, community-dwelling, older adults, (b) determine how they obtain information, and (c) determine whether they have difficulty understanding written information provided by clinicians. We studied 177 subjects (mean age 72.2, range 60-94). None had cognitive or visual impairments that precluded assessing literacy. Reading skills were tested, sociodemographic data were recorded, and information was collected on whether subjects have trouble understanding information given to them by health providers. Data analysis determined if literacy was associated with how subjects obtain and understand medical information. The subjects' mean reading skills were at grade level 5, below those of the general US population. One-fourth of subjects reported difficulty understanding written information from clinicians; this was more frequent among poor readers (P = 0.0002). Ninety-seven percent of subjects, regardless of literacy, reported that television was their primary source of information. Health information for low-income seniors should be transmitted through literacy-appropriate communication methods.
(a) 描述低收入、居住在社区的老年人的读写能力，(b) 确定他们获取信息的方式，以及 (c) 确定他们在理解临床医生提供的书面信息方面是否有困难。我们研究了177名受试者（平均年龄72.2岁，范围60 - 94岁）。没有人有妨碍评估读写能力的认知或视力障碍。测试了阅读技能，记录了社会人口统计学数据，并收集了关于受试者在理解医疗服务提供者提供给他们的信息方面是否有困难的信息。数据分析确定了读写能力是否与受试者获取和理解医疗信息的方式相关。受试者的平均阅读技能处于五年级水平，低于美国普通人群。四分之一的受试者报告在理解临床医生的书面信息方面有困难；这在阅读能力差的受试者中更为常见（P = 0.0002）。97%的受试者，无论读写能力如何，都报告电视是他们的主要信息来源。应为低收入老年人提供适合其读写能力的沟通方式来传递健康信息。
