Health literacy skills of U.S. adults.
OBJECTIVE
To examine adults' literacy proficiencies in multiple health contexts.


METHODS
One hundred ninety-one (191) health-related items drawn from all large-scale adult literacy surveys before 2003 were scored as an independent health literacy scale. Latent class analyses provide portraits of adults with different health literacy skills.


RESULTS
Adults without a high school diploma or GED, with health-related restrictions, with limited access to resources, who are members of minority population groups, and who are immigrants - have lower health literacy skills than do others.


CONCLUSIONS
The distribution of health literacy is not independent of general literacy skills at population or subpopulation levels.
Rudd
Rima E
RE
Department of Society, Human Development and Health, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston MA 02115, USA. rrudd@hsph.harvard.edu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003071:Cognition; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011643:Publishing; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States