Identifying Health Literacy in Kansas Using the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System

Abstract

Health literacy continues to be an important research topic as part of population-based assessments for overall health issues. The objective of this continuation study was to examine the health literacy rates and health outcomes as measured by the Kansas Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) survey. A cross-sectional research design was used. Health literacy data were extracted from the state-specific module of the BRFSS telephone survey. Demographic and health status variables were extracted from the core BRFSS dataset. The association between demographic and health status characteristics with health literacy was obtained using weighted samples in multivariable logistic regression models. As in the previous study, most respondents had moderate health literacy (61.1%), followed by high health literacy (31.4%) and low health literacy (7.5%). The demographic variables of interest included race, marital status, home ownership, insurance status, metropolitan status code, survey language, veteran status, education, employment, income, sex, and age. The health status variables included general health rating, presence of chronic conditions, and length of time since last check-up. Findings include individuals with low levels of health literacy were nearly 7 times as likely to be unsure of at least one health condition than those with high health literacy and demonstrate a broad gap in people’s ability to communicate accurate information to health-care providers. Results can inform future efforts to build programs that address health disparities issues including low health literacy to provide equitable health-care services. There is a continued need for support for the creation of health literate programs.

Employment Status and Health Literacy in Denmark: A Population-Based Study

“…The analyses showed a significant association between all the categories of public support with having inadequate health literacy, except for voluntary early retirement pension. The results are consistent with our assumption and current body of evidence that the unemployed population has a higher likelihood of having inadequate health literacy [17][18][19][20][21][22]32]. However, it should be noticed, that the setting and the measures differ from the current study.…”

“…Therefor it is also relevant to investigate whether working and the individual's occupational situation influence the level of health literacy, impacting the ability to maintain and promote a healthy life [16]. The research-based knowledge on the association between employment status and health literacy is scarce but the evidence shows that different context-dependent status of employment are associated with health literacy [17][18][19][20][21][22]. Thus, this study aimed to identify whether the health literacy level differs dependent on the individuals' employment situation by comparing different population groups who are not employed with those who are employed.…”

Health Literacy, Health Outcomes and Equity: A Trend Analysis Based on a Population Survey

“…All measures were collected via the KS BRFSS survey. 6 , 9 The survey is a statewide survey conducted by the state health department and supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It is a randomized digit dialing telephone survey (including both landlines and cell phones) to collect self-reported information including health risk behaviors, clinical preventive health practices, and health care access that are associated with the leading causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States.…”

“… 8 , 9 A previous study demonstrated individuals with low levels of health literacy were 7 times as likely to be unsure of at least 1 health condition than those with high health literacy using the BRFSS survey tool as a measure of population health. 9 …”

Associations of Health Literacy and Menu-Labeling Usage With Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Intake Among Adults in Mississippi, 2016

“…The item set was developed first by reviewing existing brief HL self-reports and screening tools 17 as well as earlier state-specific HL item sets for the BRFSS. 18 Selected questions were subjected to cognitive testing to identify optimal wording and format. Each item could be scored from 0 ("very difficult") to 3 ("very easy").…”