Functional health literacy in a group of Turkish patients: A pilot study

Figures & data

Table 1. Correlations between TOFHLA and its sub-dimensions

	TOFHLA total score	Reading comprehension score	Passage A score	Passage B score	Passage C score
Reading comprehension score	0.858
Passage A score	0.770	0.899
Passage B score	0.780	0.881	0.709
Passage C score	0.707	0.849	0.649	0.657
Weighted numeracy score	0.911	0.569	0.510	0.541	0.450

Note: All correlations were significant at the 0.01 level.

Table 2. Functional health literacy levels and some characteristics of the participants

Characteristics	Functional health literacy levels
	Inadequate (N = 42)	Marginal (N = 45)	Adequate (N = 63)	Total (N = 150)
Age group, N (%)
20–39 years	11 (26.2)	19 (42.2)	38 (60.4)	68 (45.3)
40–59 years	20 (47.6)	20 (44.4)	17 (26.9)	57 (38.0)
≥60 years	11 (26.2)	6 (13.4)	8 (12.7)	25 (16.7)
Gender, No (%)
Male	14 (33.3)	18 (40.0)	40 (63.5)	72 (48.0)
Female	28 (66.7)	27 (60.0)	23 (36.5)	78 (52.0)
Self-reported economic status, No (%)
Good	3 (7.1)	4 (8.9)	17 (27.0)	24 (16.0)
Moderate	34 (81.0)	39 (86.7)	44 (69.8)	117 (78.0)
Poor	5 (11.9)	2 (4.4)	2 (3.2)	9 (6.0)
Years of school education, No (%)
≤8	35 (83.3)	21 (46.7)	5 (7.9)	61 (40.7)
9–12	6 (14.3)	20 (44.4)	22 (34.9)	48 (32.0)
>12	1 (2.4)	4 (8.9)	36 (57.2)	41 (27.3)
Attitudes regarding printed materials given by the health care provider
I always read and complete them by myself	32 (76.2)	39 (86.7)	62 (98.4)	133 (88.7)
I ask for someone’s help to read and complete them	10 (23.8)	6 (13.3)	1 (1.6)	17 (11.3)
Understandability of the printed material
I always understand the printed material	17 (40.4)	29 (64.4)	53 (84.1)	99 (66.0)
I sometimes/never understand the printed material	25 (59.6)	16 (35.6)	10 (15.9)	51 (34.0)

Table 3. Mean (SD), median scores of TOFHLA, and some characteristics of the participants

	Reading score		Numeracy score		TOFHLA score
	Mean (SD)	Median	Mean (SD)	Median	Mean (SD)	Median
Age group
20–39 years	35.6 (8.5)	38.0	37.5 (10.3)	39.0	73.1 (17.7)	77.0
40–59 years	31.8 (7.5)	33.0	34.2 (8.9)	33.0	66.0 (13.8)	67.0
≥60 years	30.5 (7.9)	30.0	34.3 (12.9)	36.0	64.8 (16.9)	61.0
Gender
Male	35.1 (7.5)	37.0	37.6 (9.5)	40.5	72.7 (14.5)	65.5
Female	31.7 (8.7)	33.0	33.9 (10.8)	34.5	65.6 (17.5)	77.0
Self-reported economic status
Good	36.7 (8.7)	41.0	41.9 (7.4)	43.5	78.6 (15.2)	84.5
Moderate	32.8 (7.9)	34.0	34.7 (10.4)	36.0	67.5 (16.1)	71.0
Poor	31.0 (10.4)	28.0	32.3 (10.5)	30.0	63.3 (17.5)	59.0
Years of school education
≤8	27.3 (7.1)	27.0	29.5 (9.3)	33.0	56.8 (13.7)	58.0
9–12	34.6 (6.4)	34.5	36.9 (8.2)	39.0	71.5 (12.1)	73.0
>12	40.7 (4.3)	42.0	43.6 (7.8)	45.0	84.3 (9.2)	86.0
Functional health literacy level
Inadequate	24.4 (6.3)	25.0	23.4 (8.2)	24.0	47.8 (9.6)	50.0
Marginal	32.1 (5.3)	33.0	35.4 (5.3)	33.0	67.5 (4.9)	68.0
Adequate	40.1 (3.9)	40.0	44.1 (4.2)	45.0	84.2 (5.8)	83.0
Given printed materials
I always read and complete them by myself	34.1 (7.9)	36.0	36.6 (10.1)	39.0	70.7 (16.2)	73.0
I ask for someone’s help	27.2 (8.0)	26.0	28.8 (9.6)	33.0	56.0 (13.1)	53.0
Printed materials’ understandability
I always understand	35.3 (7.8)	37.0	38.5 (8.6)	42.0	73.8 (14.4)	76.0
I sometimes/never understand	25.4 (7.4)	25.0	32.2 (6.7)	32.5	57.6 (11.3)	58.0
Total	33.3 (8.3)	34.5	35.7 (10.3)	36.0	69.0 (16.5)	72.0

Table 4. Distribution of participants by reading comprehension and numeracy categories

Numeracy categories	Reading comprehension categories
	Inadequate N (%)	Marginal N (%)	Adequate N (%)	Total N (%)
Inadequate	22 (44.9)	10 (23.3)	1 (1.7)	33 (22.0)
Marginal	18 (36.7)	14 (32.6)	11 (19.0)	43 (28.7)
Adequate	9 (18.4)	19 (44.2)	46 (79.3)	74 (49.3)
Total	49 (100.0)	43 (100.0)	58 (100.0)	150 (100.0)