Addressing the “Other” Health Literacy Competencies—Knowledge, Dispositions, and Oral/Aural Communication: Development of TALKDOC, an Intervention Assessment Tool

Figures & data

Figure 1 Nomological chart indicating constructs, categories, and their relationships in TALKDOC health literacy domains. (Color figure available online.).

Table 1. Item content areas and numbers of question per domain of instrument that was tested

Domain	Subcategories	Number of items
Demographics	Year of birth, highest level of school completed, marital status, language, ethnicity, location of birth, household income, employment	11 items
Experience and exposure	Cancer and Pap test experienceExposure to and trust in health information sources	18 items
Knowledge	Definitions, concepts, risk, prevention, protection, treatment, navigation	27 items
Disposition: Confidence	Self-confidence	5 items
Disposition: Attitudes to prevention	Importance and value of Pap tests, value of HPV vaccine	7 items
Oral communication	Comprehension and understanding, knowledge, and question asking	Tape A: Making a clinic Appointment: 10 itemsTape B: STD clinic visit: 9 items TapeC: Pap test visit: 12 itemsTape D: Abnormal Pap test visit: 10 items

Table 2. Participant demographics

Category	Variable	n	%
Year of birth	1946–19551956–19711973–1989	445463	263439
Ethnicity (distribution similar to that of New Mexico population)	American IndianHispanicNon-Hispanic WhiteMixed race, Asian, or African American	16518016	10324810
Location of birth	United StatesElsewhere	1509	94.35.7
Highest level of school completed	Grades 6–9High school diploma or GEDVocational or trade schoolSome collegeCollege degree (BA or BS)Graduate degree	9358523720	5.621.75.032.323.012.5
Employment	Employed for wages or self-employedOut of work, unable to work or retiredA homemaker or student, not working	1131929	70.511.918
Household income	$0–$34,999$35,000–$59,999$60,000–$99,000$100,000 or more	79342713	51.722.217.68.3
Marital status	Married or living with partnerNever marriedDivorced, widowed, or separated	744838	46.33023.8

Table 3. Descriptive statistics

Question	Response category	n	%
Have you ever had a Pap test?	Yes	150	94.3
Have you ever had an abnormal Pap test result?	Yes	79	52
When did you have your last Pap test?	≤1 year ago	101	66.4
	1–2 years ago	24	15.8
	>2 year ago	20	13.2
	Do not know	3	2.0
	No Pap needed	4	2.6
Why did you have the last Pap test?	Routine test	125	89.3
	Last Pap not normal	13	11.0
	Notice sent to me	13	11.0
	Never had one before	5	4.4
	Health care provider told me to have one	46	38.3
	Female family member told me to have one	9	8.0
	Other (various*)	29	33.0
Do you plan to have a Pap test within the next year?	Unlikely	18	11.4
	Somewhat likely	19	12.0
	Very likely	34	21.5
	Definitely	87	55.1
Have you been told by a health provider that you have cancer?		12	7.5
Have you been told by a health provider that you have cervical cancer?		8	5.0
Has someone in close family been told by a health provider that they have cancer?		93	58
Respondent reads the health section of a newspaper or magazine		133	8
Respondent watches health reports on TV news		133	84
Respondent reads health information on the internet		122	76
Respondent has seen ads about the HPV vaccine		126	79
The ad made them ask their health provider about the vaccine		78	61.9
Where have the respondents seen the ad?	Radio	22	17
	TV	108	86
	Magazine	54	43
	Newspaper	30	24
	Internet	29	23
	Other	17	13

Table 4. Descriptive statistics for average response of and questions for disposition scores (self-confidence and attitudes to prevention)

Variable	n	M (SD)	Median (range)
Self-confidence	155	5.4 (0.8)	5.75 (2.75, 6)
• How confident are you that you can ask a health care provider questions about HPV or cervical cancer?	154	5.6 (0.9)	6.0 (1, 6)
• How confident are you that you can get a health care provider to take your concerns seriously?	154	5.3 (1.1)	6.0 (1, 6)
• How confident are you that you can understand what a health care provider tells you?	155	5.2 (1.0)	6.0 (1, 6)
• How confident are you that you are able to ask a health care provider to be more clear if you do not understand what he or she says?	148	5.6 (0.9)	6.0 (1, 6)
Attitudes to prevention	155	5.8 (0.7)	6.0 (1, 6)
• A Pap test is important for a woman my age.	154	5.7 (0. 8)	6.0 (1, 6)
• A Pap test is needed even if there is no family history of cancer.	154	5.8 (0.8)	6.0 (1, 6)

Table 5. Scores on Health Activities Literacy Scale (N = 150)

Level	Score range	Definition	n	%
1	155–225	Possess very limited to restricted literacy proficiencies	9	6
2	230–275	Below average proficiency of those graduating from high school	34	23
3	280–325	Can integrate information from relatively long/dense text or documents; minimum level literacy	59	39
4	330–375	High proficiency associated with challenging tasks in test	39	26
5	380–435	Highest proficiency associated with challenging tasks in test	9	6