The effect of health literacy on vaccine hesitancy among Italian anticoagulated population during COVID-19 pandemic: the moderating role of health engagement

Figures & data

Figure 1. Moderation effect of PHE on health literacy in vaccine hesitancy.

Table 1. Sample characteristics (n = 288)

		n	%
Sex*	Male	137	49.5
	Female	140	50.5
Marital Status*	Married	189	68.2
	Unmarried	88	31.8
Education*	Primary school	1	0.4
	High school	175	63.2
	University or higher	101	36.5
Employment *	Worker	119	43.0
	Unemployed	158	57.0
Geographical regions*	North-west	94	33.9
	North-east	61	22.0
	Center	50	18.1
	South and islands	72	26.0
Type of OAC*	VKAs	177	73.4
	DOACs	64	26.6
Treatment time *	< 1 years	32	11.9
	1–6 years	101	37.4
	> 6 years	137	50.7
Type of OAC management*	Anticoagulation clinics	98	55.4
	District healthcare services	19	10.7
	Self-management	38	21.5
	Other	22	7.6
Vaccine Hesitancy*	No vaccine hesitancy	161	64.4
	High Hesitancy	29	11.6
	Unwilling patients (moderate hesitancy)	60	24.0
		Median	IQR
Age (years)*		58.0	20
		Mean	±SD
HL*		2.38	.52
PHE*		4.49	1.35
HL	1^st wave (n = 105)	2.33	0.53
	2^nd wave (n = 61)	2.47	0.50
PHE	1^st wave(n = 105)	5.06	1.36
	2^nd wave (n = 61)	4.79	1.31

*Data missing (sex, n = 11; marital status, n = 11; education, n = 11; employment, n = 11; geographical regions, n = 11; treatment time, n = 18; vaccine hesitancy, n = 38; type of OAC, n = 47; type of management, n = 52; HL, n = 122; PHE, n = 122; age, n = 11).

Table 2. Vaccine hesitancy and patient health engagement in patients with low and high health literacy

	Overall			First wave			Second wave
	Low HL	High HL	P-value	Low HL	High HL	P-value	Low HL	High HL	P-value
	N (%)	N (%)		N (%)	N (%)		N (%)	N (%)
VH	29 (40.9)	22 (30.1)	0.501	21 (36.8)	16 (34.3)	0.708	8 (30.8)	9 (25.7)	0.663
Adequate PHE	14(16.9)	33 (39.8)	0.001	12(21.1)	22 (45.8)	0.007	2 (7.7)	11 (31.4)	0.025

VH = vaccine hesitancy.

PHE = patient health engagement.

HL = health literacy.

Figure 2. Slope analysis to interpret the moderating effect of Engagement on the association between Health Literacy and Vaccine Hesitancy.