Research linking health literacy to health knowledge, health behaviors, health outcomes, health disparity, health status, and increasing health-care costs is prevalent around the globe. Given the importance of health literacy, it is prudent to examine the tools available to assure that patients are health-literate. This article provides an integrative review in order to investigate what has been developed to evaluate health literacy in the health-care setting. The research questions considered include: (i) Which instruments or screening tools are available to assess or measure health literacy in the clinical setting?; and (ii) What are the psychometric properties, advantages, and limitations of the identified tools? A number of databases are utilized to locate research specific to this topic. The research is analyzed, the findings are summarized, and the limitations are mentioned. The implications, recommendations, and the need for future research are discussed.

The terms "health" and "literacy" form a powerful concept that has evolved from the 1970s to one that has garnered the attention of a wide range of disciplines; most notably, education and health care, but also library science, public health, and the mental health arena. There are many definitions of health literacy, but none that encompass the totality by which the concept is constructed. This paper presents an analysis of the concept of health literacy using the technique of concept/dimensional analysis. A clear understanding of the concept is essential as health literacy has implications that are far-reaching and impact both the individual and society.

Diabetes, with its consequences of premature death, complications, and economic costs, is a precursor to a public health crisis that is expected to worsen over the next several decades. The improvement of diabetes outcomes, specifically glycemic control as measured by glycosylated hemoglobin concentration (HbA1c), can impact this critical situation. A quantitative study was conducted that examined health literacy and patient trust as predictors of glycemic control. The related factors of demographics, socioeconomic status, diabetes knowledge, self-care activities, and depression were also considered. Implementing a cross-sectional, predictive design, a convenience sample of 102 patients with diabetes was recruited from two urban primary care clinics in the USA. A simultaneous multiple regression was conducted. The regression analysis was significant, with patient trust and depression accounting for 28.5% of the variance in HbA1c. There was a significant positive relationship between socioeconomic status and health literacy and between diabetes knowledge and health literacy. The results support promotion of the patient-provider relationship, depression screening among individuals with diabetes, and exploration of new strategies for diabetes education. Future research is needed to advance the framework, ascertain which factors engender patient trust, and determine the role of health literacy in glycemic control.

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Tricyclic antidepressants are modestly effective in reducing chronic tension-type headache and are superior to buspirone. In limited studies, tetracyclics appear to be ineffective in the prophylactic treatment of chronic tension-type headache.