Sociodemographic Correlates of Low Health Literacy Skills Among Cancer Survivors: National Findings From BRFSS 2016.

Purpose: This study aimed to explore associations of sociodemographic factors with difficulties in three health literacy (HL) skills and the severity of low HL skills. Design: Cross-sectional secondary data analysis. Subjects: Data came from 17,834 adults who responded to the HL module with a response rate of 47% in the 2016 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. Measures: Independent variables included sex, age, race/ethnicity, education, employment and income. Dependent variables are three HL skills: obtaining, understanding oral, and understanding written health information. Analysis: We conducted weighted Chi-square tests and multinominal logistic regressions. Results: Cancer survivors younger than 65 (aged 18-39: AOR = 4.46, P <.001; aged 40-64: AOR = 2.29, P <.001), Hispanic (AOR = 2.17, CI = 1.61-2.50, P <.01) had higher odds of difficulty obtaining health information. Female cancer survivors had lower odds of difficulty comprehending oral (AOR =.69, CI =.55-.87, P <.01) and written (AOR =.58, CI =.46-.74, P <.001) information. The relative risk ratio of having difficulties in three HL tasks was higher for those who were younger than 65 (aged 18-39: RRR = 10.18, CI = 2.41-4.3, P <.01; aged 40-64: RRR = 4.01, CI = 2.09-7.69, P <.001), Hispanic (RRR = 3.24, CI = 1.66-11.34, P <.01), unemployed (RRR = 6.1, CI = 2.88-12.76, P <.001), education levels lower than some college (some high school: RRR = 4.34, P <.01; high school: RRR = 2.62, P <.05) and household income under $25,000 (RRR = 6.99, CI = 2.8-17.5, P <.001). Conclusion: Intervention and communication materials need to be tailored for patients with different HL skills considering age, gender, socioeconomic status and cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]