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AHRQ Research Studies Date
Topics
- Adverse Drug Events (ADE) (1)
- Adverse Events (2)
- Arthritis (2)
- Autism (1)
- Blood Pressure (1)
- Cancer (1)
- Caregiving (1)
- Children/Adolescents (2)
- Clinician-Patient Communication (3)
- Communication (3)
- Decision Making (5)
- Digestive Disease and Health (1)
- Education: Patient and Caregiver (2)
- Elderly (2)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (1)
- Emergency Department (1)
- Emergency Medical Services (EMS) (1)
- Healthcare Delivery (2)
- Healthcare Utilization (1)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (3)
- (-) Health Literacy (16)
- Hospital Discharge (1)
- Medication (2)
- Medication: Safety (1)
- Patient-Centered Healthcare (2)
- Patient Adherence/Compliance (1)
- Patient and Family Engagement (4)
- Patient Experience (1)
- Patient Safety (1)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (2)
- Risk (1)
- Surgery (2)
- Transplantation (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 16 of 16 Research Studies DisplayedShaffer VA, Wegier P, Valentine KD
Patient judgments about hypertension control: the role of patient numeracy and graph literacy.
The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of patient health literacy, numeracy, and graph literacy on perceptions of hypertension control using different forms of data visualization. Forms of visualization included data tables, graphs with raw values, and graphs with smoothed values only. Findings showed that judgments about hypertension data presented as a smoothed graph were significantly more positive than judgments about the same data presented as either a data table or an unsmoothed graph. Hypertension data viewed in tabular form was perceived more positively than graphs of the raw data. Data visualization had the greatest impact on participants with high graph literacy.
AHRQ-funded; HS023328.
Citation: Shaffer VA, Wegier P, Valentine KD .
Patient judgments about hypertension control: the role of patient numeracy and graph literacy.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Oct 7;29(11):1829-37. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocac129..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Blood Pressure, Decision Making
Colditz JB, Shensa A, Kennedy AJ
Acceptability and efficacy of the SMARxT media literacy education program to counter pharmaceutical marketing influences among medical trainees.
This article looked at the results of a media literacy education program called SMARxT, whose goal was to counter pharmaceutical marketing influences among resident physicians. In 2017, the authors assessed program feasibility, acceptability, and efficacy of enhancing knowledge among resident physicians at the University of Pittsburgh. The residents (n=73) responded to pre-test items assessing prior knowledge, viewed six SMARxT videos, and responded to post-test items. The residents completed a 6-month follow-up test to quantitatively assess sustained changes in knowledge and to qualitatively assess feedback about the program. The proportion of correct knowledge responses increased from pre-test to immediate post-test (31% to 64%) at baseline. Correct responses also increased from pre-test to 6-month follow-up (31% to 43%). Acceptability of the program quantitatively yielded positive scores and qualitative responses indicated participants' increased confidence in understanding and countering marketing influences due to the intervention. However, participants shared they would prefer shorter videos, feedback about test scores, and additional resources to reinforce learning objectives.
AHRQ-funded; HS022927.
Citation: Colditz JB, Shensa A, Kennedy AJ .
Acceptability and efficacy of the SMARxT media literacy education program to counter pharmaceutical marketing influences among medical trainees.
Interdiscip J Virtual Learn Med Sci 2022 Sep; 13(3):213-20. doi: 10.30476/ijvlms.2022.95137.1151..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Medication
Lindly OJ, Cabral J, Mohammed R
AHRQ Author: Mistry KB
"I don't do much without researching things myself": a mixed methods study exploring the role of parent health literacy in autism services use for young children.
This mixed-methods study examined how parent health literacy contributes to health-related outcomes for children with autism. This study included 82 US parents of a child with autism 2-5 years old and sought to describe (1) health literacy dimensions, (2) how health literacy influences services use, and (3) health literacy improvement strategies. The authors found that: autism information was accessed from multiple sources; understanding autism information involved "doing your own research"; autism information empowered decision-making; health literacy facilitated behavioral services use; health literacy influenced medication use; family and system characteristics also affected services use; autism education remains needed; services information is needed across the diagnostic odyssey; and greater scientific information accessibility would increase uptake.
AHRQ-authored; AHRQ-funded; HS000063.
Citation: Lindly OJ, Cabral J, Mohammed R .
"I don't do much without researching things myself": a mixed methods study exploring the role of parent health literacy in autism services use for young children.
J Autism Dev Disord 2022 Aug;52(8):3598-611. doi: 10.1007/s10803-021-05240-0..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Autism, Caregiving, Health Literacy
Theiss LM, Wood T, McLeod MC
The association of health literacy and postoperative complications after colorectal surgery: a cohort study.
The purpose of this retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing elective colorectal surgery between 2015 and 2020 was to describe the association between health literacy, a determinant of health, and surgical outcomes. The outcomes of the study included: postoperative complications, length of stay (LOS), readmissions, and mortality. The study found that of 552 patients, 8.3% (46) had limited health literacy. Patients with limited health literacy had higher rates of overall complications, especially surgical site infections, and longer LOS. Readmission and mortality rates did not differ between limited and non-limited patients. The researchers concluded that limited health literacy is related to an increased likelihood of post-surgical complications in elective colorectal surgery patients.
Citation: Theiss LM, Wood T, McLeod MC .
The association of health literacy and postoperative complications after colorectal surgery: a cohort study.
Am J Surg 2022 Jun;223(6):1047-52. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.10.024..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Surgery, Adverse Events
Di Tosto G, Walker DM, Sieck CJ
Examining the relationship between health literacy, health numeracy, and patient portal use.
The purpose of this randomized controlled trial study across the inpatient population of a U.S.-based academic medical center was to examine the association between health literacy and numeracy (HLN) and patient portal use. The researchers assessed the association between patients’ perceptions of health literacy and their skills, interpreting medical information with measurements of interaction with patient portals. The study reported that levels of HLN for the 654 patients in the study sample were not significantly associated with use of the inpatient portal. Six-month use of the outpatient portal after hospital discharge was also not related with HLN. There was a significant increase in self-reported levels of health literacy. The researchers concluded that although prior research suggested that low HLN can serve as a barrier to inpatient portal use and could limit interaction with outpatient portals, this study did not find the same associations. Instead, this study indicates that the inpatient setting might be effective in encouraging acceptance of technology such as hospital-provided tablets.
AHRQ-funded; HS024091; HS024349; HS024379.
Citation: Di Tosto G, Walker DM, Sieck CJ .
Examining the relationship between health literacy, health numeracy, and patient portal use.
Appl Clin Inform 2022 May;13(3):692-99. doi: 10.1055/s-0042-1751239..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Health Information Technology (HIT), Electronic Health Records (EHRs)
Jacobson CE, Heximer A, Olmeda-Barrientos R
Language accessibility of liver transplantation center websites.
This research letter describes an analysis of language accessibility of liver transplantation center websites. The authors surveyed patient-facing educational websites of all 140 active, accredited US liver transplantation centers. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia had websites. Inclusion criteria was that they were using the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network website. They analyzed each website for non-English content. Excluded were websites from Puerto Rico, as Spanish is the predominant governmental language. A total of 23 states had no transplant websites with online materials in a second language, and 34 sites (24.3%) had resources other than English on their website. California had the highest number of centers with resources in a language other than English, followed by Texas and New York. Spanish was the most common language available at 100% of sites that had resources other than English, followed by Arabic at 38.9% and Mandarin Chinese at 38.9%. A total of 108 different languages were represented among 10 state websites.
AHRQ-funded; HS000053.
Citation: Jacobson CE, Heximer A, Olmeda-Barrientos R .
Language accessibility of liver transplantation center websites.
Liver Transpl 2022 Apr; 28(4):722-24. doi: 10.1002/lt.26343..
Keywords: Transplantation, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Health Information Technology (HIT), Health Literacy
Carpenter K, Scavotto M, McGovern A
Early parental knowledge of late effect risks in children with cancer.
This study assessed early parental knowledge of late effect risks in children with cancer. The cohort included parents of children receiving cancer treatment at Dana-Farber/Boston Children’s Cancer and Blood Disorders Center. The parents were surveyed about their knowledge of their child’s likelihood of eight late effects. Only 11 out of 96 parents correctly identified all their child’s risk for the eight late effects. Five of eight effects were the median number of correctly identified late effect risks. Among the 21 parents whose children were at risk for ototoxicity, 95% correctly identified this risk. Conversely, parents were less knowledgeable about risks of second malignancy, cardiac toxicity, neurocognitive impairment, and infertility.
AHRQ-funded; HS022986.
Citation: Carpenter K, Scavotto M, McGovern A .
Early parental knowledge of late effect risks in children with cancer.
Pediatr Blood Cancer 2022 Feb;69(2):e29473. doi: 10.1002/pbc.29473..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Cancer, Risk, Education: Patient and Caregiver, Health Literacy
Dos Santos Marques IC, Herbey II, Theiss LM
Understanding the surgical experience for Black and White patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): the importance of health literacy.
The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the surgical experience for Black and White inflammatory bowel disease patients. Same race, semi-structured qualitative interviews with patients with IBD who had undergone surgery were conducted to explore barriers and facilitators to a positive or negative surgical experience. The study reported that 6 focus groups were conducted with 10 Black and 17 White IBD participants with a mean age of 44.8 years, 52% of whom were male and 65% of whom had Crohn’s disease. Four themes were identified that most characterized the surgical experience: the impact of the IBD diagnosis, the quality of the information that was provided, disease management, and the surgery. Within these theme groupings, identified barriers to a positive surgical experience included inadequate personal knowledge of IBD, ineffective written and verbal communication, lack of a support system and complications after surgery. Both groups indicated that information was provided inconsistently which led to unclear expectations of surgical outcomes. The study concluded that surgical experiences vary between Black and White patients, but both groups emphasized the need for understandable, accurate, and trustworthy health information.
AHRQ-funded; HS023009; HS013852.
Citation: Dos Santos Marques IC, Herbey II, Theiss LM .
Understanding the surgical experience for Black and White patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD): the importance of health literacy.
Am J Surg 2022 Feb;223(2):303-11. doi: 10.1016/j.amjsurg.2021.06.003..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Surgery, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Digestive Disease and Health, Patient Experience
Valdovinos C, Perez-Aguilar G, Huerta RG
Electronic health literacy among linguistically diverse patients in the Los Angeles County safety net health system.
Few studies have been conducted which evaluate levels of eHealth literacy in underserved populations, yet eHealth literacy may affect telehealth utilization. The objective of this study was to describe eHealth literacy levels as well as technology use and access patterns among English-speaking and Limited English Proficiency (LEP) patients from three Los Angeles clinics for uninsured, Medicaid, and other vulnerable patients (“safety-net” clinics). Between June and July of 2017, patients aged 18 or over with diabetes mellitus and/ or hypertension and their caregivers were recruited for the study. The researchers asked both English-speaking and LEP Spanish-speaking patients about their technology use and access, and assessed their levels of health literacy using the eHealth Literacy Scale (eHeals). A total of 62 patients and 9 caregivers, with a mean age of 56, completed the questionnaire. The study found that 67% of participants used a telephone that had internet access. For the 10 items on the eHEALS instrument, the mean score was in the moderate range at 26/50 points. There was no difference in the mean eHEALS score between the English-speaking and LEP Spanish speaking groups, however 68% of English-speaking participants “agreed/ strongly agreed” that they knew how to use the internet to answer their health questions, compared to 47% of the Spanish-speaking participants (P<.05). The study concluded that despite moderate levels of electronic health literacy, participant’s perceived confidence and skills in engaging with electronic health systems were low.
AHRQ-funded; HS026407.
Citation: Valdovinos C, Perez-Aguilar G, Huerta RG .
Electronic health literacy among linguistically diverse patients in the Los Angeles County safety net health system.
Ethn Dis 2022 Winter;32(1):21-30. doi: 10.18865/ed.32.1.21..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Health Information Technology (HIT), Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Martin BA, Breslow RM, Sims A
Identifying over-the-counter information to prioritize for the purpose of reducing adverse drug reactions in older adults: a national survey of pharmacists.
This study’s objective was to determine which information on over-the-counter (OTC) Drug Facts Labels (DFS) is most critical in reducing adverse drug reactions (ADRs) among older adults and should be placed in front of the label. A national survey of practicing pharmacists knowledgeable about OTC medication use by older adults asked respondents to rank order the importance of the DFL sections to reduce ADRs. A total of 318 responses were analyzed. There was high consensus that uses and purposes, active ingredient, warnings, and directions for use were the most important sections on the label. Two specific warnings “Do not use” and “Ask a doctor or pharmacist” were deemed most important in the warnings section.
AHRQ-funded; HS025386.
Citation: Martin BA, Breslow RM, Sims A .
Identifying over-the-counter information to prioritize for the purpose of reducing adverse drug reactions in older adults: a national survey of pharmacists.
J Am Pharm Assoc 2022 Jan-Feb;62(1):167-75.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.japh.2021.08.019..
Keywords: Elderly, Medication: Safety, Medication, Adverse Drug Events (ADE), Adverse Events, Patient Safety, Health Literacy, Education: Patient and Caregiver
Albrecht JS, Gruber-Baldini AL, Hirshon JM
Hospital discharge instructions: comprehension and compliance among older adults.
The purpose of this prospective cohort study was to quantify the prevalence of non-comprehension and non-compliance with discharge instructions and to identify associated patient characteristics. The investigators concluded that non-comprehension of discharge instructions among older adults was prevalent, multi-factorial, and varies by domain.
AHRQ-funded; HS021068.
Citation: Albrecht JS, Gruber-Baldini AL, Hirshon JM .
Hospital discharge instructions: comprehension and compliance among older adults.
J Gen Intern Med 2014 Nov;29(11):1491-8. doi: 10.1007/s11606-014-2956-0..
Keywords: Elderly, Health Literacy, Hospital Discharge, Patient Adherence/Compliance
Griffey RT, Kennedy SK, D'Agostino McGowan L, Good RT, Kennedy SK, D'Agostino McGowan L
Is low health literacy associated with increased emergency department utilization and recidivism?
The study objective was to determine whether patients with low health literacy have higher emergency department (ED) use and higher ED recidivism than patients with adequate health literacy. It found that patients with inadequate health literacy had higher ED use compared to those with adequate health literacy.
AHRQ-funded; HS020309
Citation: Griffey RT, Kennedy SK, D'Agostino McGowan L, Good RT, Kennedy SK, D'Agostino McGowan L .
Is low health literacy associated with increased emergency department utilization and recidivism?
Acad Emerg Med. 2014 Oct;21(10):1109-15. doi: 10.1111/acem..
Keywords: Health Literacy, Emergency Department, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), Healthcare Utilization
Barton JL, Trupin L, Tonner C
English language proficiency, health literacy, and trust in physician are associated with shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis.
The objective of this study was to examine patterns of perceived communication around decision making in 2 cohorts of adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The investigators found that nearly one-third of subjects reported suboptimal shared decision making communication (SDM) with their clinicians, regardless of cohort. Lower trust in physician was independently associated with suboptimal SDM communication in both cohorts.
AHRQ-funded; HS019209.
Citation: Barton JL, Trupin L, Tonner C .
English language proficiency, health literacy, and trust in physician are associated with shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis.
J Rheumatol 2014 Jul;41(7):1290-7. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.131350..
Keywords: Arthritis, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Decision Making, Health Literacy, Patient and Family Engagement
Barton JL, Trupin L, Tonner C
English language proficiency, health literacy, and trust in physician are associated with shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis.
The objective of this study was to examine patterns of perceived communication around decision making in 2 cohorts of adults with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The investigators found that nearly one-third of subjects reported suboptimal shared decision making communication (SDM) with their clinicians, regardless of cohort. Lower trust in physician was independently associated with suboptimal SDM communication in both cohorts.
AHRQ-funded; HS019209.
Citation: Barton JL, Trupin L, Tonner C .
English language proficiency, health literacy, and trust in physician are associated with shared decision making in rheumatoid arthritis.
J Rheumatol 2014 Jul;41(7):1290-7. doi: 10.3899/jrheum.131350..
Keywords: Arthritis, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Decision Making, Health Literacy, Patient and Family Engagement
Brach C
AHRQ Author: Brach C
A daughter's frustration with the dearth of patient- and family-centered care.
This article is a first-person account of a hospitalization that describes the lack of patient and family inclusion in decision-making, failure to use plain language and other health literacy strategies, and disregard for patient and family preferences. The author concludes that if the health care system is going to shift from paternalistic to patient- and family-centered, providers must be trained in how to communicate and partner with patients and families. The author references resources to help hospitals make systematic changes to hard wire health literate and patient- and family-centered care.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Brach C .
A daughter's frustration with the dearth of patient- and family-centered care.
Patient Exp J 2014 Apr 1;1(1):43-47.
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Keywords: Healthcare Delivery, Decision Making, Health Literacy, Patient and Family Engagement, Patient-Centered Healthcare
Brach C, Dreyer BP, Schillinger D
AHRQ Author: Brach C
Physicians' roles in creating health literate organizations: a call to action.
Physicians are being called on to deliver patient-centered care, reduce medical errors, and generally increase health care quality and health outcomes, all while containing costs. Fully engaging patients in prevention, decision-making and self-management activities is critical to achieving these aims. The authors of this paper concluded that being health literate must be a new way of delivering care rather than an add-on. For national health literacy goals to be met, health care organizations must ingrain health literacy into their routines.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Brach C, Dreyer BP, Schillinger D .
Physicians' roles in creating health literate organizations: a call to action.
J Gen Intern Med 2014 Feb;29(2):273-5. doi: 10.1007/s11606-013-2619-6.
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Keywords: Healthcare Delivery, Decision Making, Health Literacy, Patient and Family Engagement, Patient-Centered Healthcare