You may not have considered it, but every time you read health information, from food labels to medical forms, you're exercising your health literacy skills.

Health literacy is the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information needed to make informed health decisions. Health literacy affects your ability to:

• Use the healthcare system, including filling out complex forms and locating healthcare providers and services
• Share personal information, such as your health history, with providers
• Care for yourself and manage any chronic disease
• Interpret nutrition labels and understand what you're putting in your body
• Understand how to correctly use over-the-counter and prescription medicines to get the most benefit and avoid risks
• Understand math concepts such as probability and risk

In addition to basic literacy skills, health literacy requires knowledge of health topics and math. For example, you use math skills to calculate cholesterol and blood sugar levels, measure medications, and understand nutrition labels.

If you have limited health literacy, you may lack knowledge or have misinformation about the body as well as the nature and causes of disease. Without this knowledge, you may not understand the relationship between lifestyle factors such as diet and exercise and various health outcomes.

Why is health literacy important?

According to the Institute of Medicine, a nonprofit organization that offers advice on science matters, approximately one-half of the adult population may lack the needed literacy skills to use the U.S. healthcare system. Low literacy has been linked to poor health outcomes such as higher rates of hospitalization, less frequent use of preventive services, and higher healthcare costs.

What do research studies say about the relationship between health literacy and health outcomes?

Use of preventive services

People with limited health literacy skills are more likely to skip important preventive measures such as Pap smears and flu shots. When compared to those with adequate health literacy skills, studies have shown that patients with limited health literacy skills enter the healthcare system when they are sicker.

Knowledge about medical conditions and treatment

People with limited health literacy skills are more likely to have chronic conditions and are less able to manage them effectively. Studies have found that patients with high blood pressure, diabetes, asthma, or HIV/AIDS who have limited health literacy skills have less knowledge of their illness and its management.

Rates of hospitalization

Limited health literacy skills are associated with an increase in preventable hospital visits and admissions. Studies have shown a higher rate of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited literacy skills.

Health status

Studies show that people with limited health literacy skills are significantly more likely than people with adequate health literacy skills to report their health as poor.

Healthcare costs

Those with limited health literacy skills use more services designed to treat complications of disease and less services designed to prevent complications. Higher rates of hospitalization and use of emergency services among patients with limited health literacy skills is associated with higher healthcare costs.

Stigma and shame

Low health literacy may also have negative psychological effects. One study found that those with limited health literacy skills reported a sense of shame about their skill level. As a result, they may hide reading or vocabulary difficulties to maintain their dignity.

Tags: Health

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