Effect of literacy on breast-feeding outcomes.
BACKGROUND
We studied the effect of functional health literacy on the initiation and continuance of breast-feeding in women at a public health clinic.


METHODS
Subjects were 61 first-time mothers aged 18 years or older who spoke English as their first language. They were divided into two groups, one who exclusively breast-fed for at least the first 2 months and one who never initiated breast-feeding or did not exclusively breast-feed for at least 2 months. The Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) was administered, providing reading grade-level estimates for each subject.


RESULTS
An association between functional health literacy and breast-feeding was seen, with only 23% of the women in the lower literacy group exclusively breast-feeding during the first 2 months compared with 54% of women in the higher literacy group.


CONCLUSIONS
Many patients need simpler health education materials encouraging breastfeeding. These materials are needed both before and during pregnancy.
Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of New Mexico School of Medicine, Albuquerque 87131, USA.
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Kaufman
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Skipper
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Small
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Terry
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McGrew
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001942:Breast Feeding / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income; D009516:New Mexico; D011932:Reading; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires