BackgroundHealth literacy is of increasing importance in public health research. It is a necessary pre-condition for the involvement in decisions about health and health care and related to health outcomes. Knowledge about limited health literacy in different age groups is crucial to better target public health interventions for subgroups of the population. However, little is known about health literacy in Germany. The study therefore assesses the prevalence of limited health literacy and associated factors among different age groups.MethodsThe Health Literacy Survey Germany is a cross-sectional study with 2,000 participants aged 15 years or older in private households. Perceived health literacy was assessed via computer-assisted personal interviews using the HLS-EU-Q-47 questionnaire. Descriptive analyses, chi-square tests and odds ratios were performed stratified for different age groups.ResultsThe population affected by limited perceived health literacy increases by age. Of the respondents aged 15–29 years, 47.3 % had limited perceived health literacy and 47.2 % of those aged 30–45 years, whereas 55.2 % of the respondents aged 46–64 years and 66.4 % aged 65 years and older showed limited perceived health literacy. In all age groups, limited perceived health literacy was associated with limited functional health literacy, low social status, and a high frequency of doctor visits.ConclusionsThe results suggest a need to further investigate perceived health literacy in all phases of the life-course. Particular attention should be devoted to persons with lower social status, limited functional health literacy and/or a high number of doctor visits in all age groups.

The low health literacy of many Germans can impair communication between doctors and patients and exacerbate existing problems in health policy. In the future, greater effort will have to be made to foster health literacy, make health-related information for patients easier to understand, and intensify research in the field of health literacy.

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Zusammenfassung Ziel Durch die Digitalisierung gewinnen digitale Informationen zum Thema Gesundheit zunehmend an Bedeutung. Neben vielfältigen Chancen bringt diese Entwicklung auch Herausforderungen mit sich, denn mit dem wachsenden Angebot steigt zugleich der Bedarf an digitaler Gesundheitskompetenz (DGK). Im nachfolgenden Beitrag werden das Ausmaß der DGK in der Bevölkerung in Deutschland, zentrale Determinanten der DGK und Folgen für die Nutzung digitaler gesundheitsbezogener Informationsangebote analysiert. Methodik Die Analyse basiert auf Daten des zweiten Health Literacy Survey Germany (HLS-GER 2), bestehend aus einer repräsentativen Stichprobe mit n=2151. Die Erfassung der DGK, der Determinanten sowie der Nutzung digitaler gesundheitsbezogener Informationsangebote erfolgte mit einem im Rahmen der internationalen Vergleichsstudie HLS19 erarbeiteten Fragebogens. Es wurden bivariate und multivariate Analysen durchgeführt. Ergebnisse Insgesamt verfügen 75,8% der Bevölkerung über eine geringe DGK. Vor allem geringe literale Fähigkeiten, ein höheres Alter, eine niedrige Bildung sowie ein niedriger Sozialstatus gehen mit einer geringen DGK einher. Die multivariate Analyse weist zudem auf einen starken Zusammenhang zwischen DGK und allgemeiner Gesundheitskompetenz (GK) hin. Geringe DGK ist folgenreich und führt zu einer geringeren Nutzung digitaler gesundheitsbezogener Informationsangebote. Schlussfolgerung Die Ergebnisse unterstreichen die Wichtigkeit der Förderung von DGK der Bevölkerung und besonders von Gruppen mit geringer DGK. Entsprechende Bemühungen sollten die allgemeine GK einbeziehen, denn sie steht in engem Zusammenhang mit der DGK. Auch um die noch geringe Nutzung digitaler Informationsangebote in Deutschland zu erhöhen und generell, um der zunehmenden Digitalisierung des Gesundheitswesens zu entsprechen, stellt die Stärkung der DGK eine gesellschaftlich wichtige Aufgabe dar.

Due to their rapid expansion and complexity, it is increasingly difficult for patients to orient themselves in health care systems. Therefore, patients require a high degree of health literacy, or more precisely, navigation health literacy (HL-NAV). The actual extent of HL-NAV of patients and citizens is still largely unknown due to the lack of adequate measurement instruments. Thus, within the new international Health Literacy Population Survey 2019 (HLS19), one aim was to develop a suitable instrument for measuring HL-NAV in the HLS19 the HL-NAV-HLS19. The item development was conducted by an international working group within the HLS19 Consortium led by the first and last authors. Methodologically, it is based on a scoping literature review, development of a conceptual framework for HL-NAV, and first item formation, as well as an evaluation by experts, stakeholders, focus groups, pre-test interviews, and continuously feedback from the HLS19 Consortium. HL-NAV was defined as the ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply information on navigational issues, drawing on ten selected publications and the health literacy definition of the HLS-EU Consortium. Main tasks of HL-NAV at the system, organization, and interaction level were identified, to which first related items were assigned. Based on the feedback from experts, the focus group discussions, and the HLS19 Consortium, the instrument was slightly revised. Finally, twelve items proved to be feasible in the pre-test. The instrument will be used for the first time in the HLS19 survey and will provide first data on HL-NAV in general populations for the countries participating in HLS19. It is suited for cross-country comparisons and monitoring, as well as for intervention development. However, the instrument should be translated into and validated in further languages and countries for population samples.