title: Limited literacy and psychiatric disorders among users of an urban safety-net hospital's mental health outpatient clinic.
abstract: Little is known about the relationship between mental illness and literacy despite both being prevalent problems. We examine whether literacy varies by psychiatric diagnoses. Interviews and chart reviews (N = 100) were conducted in a behavioral health outpatient clinic. The relationships among sociodemographics, rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine, measures of verbal and visual intellectual abilities, and psychiatric diagnoses were examined. The mean rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine score was 55.9 which is equivalent to below an eighth grade literacy level. Psychotic disorder (p = 0.03) was associated with limited literacy, and substance abuse (p = 0.003) and PTSD (p = 0.07) were associated with higher literacy in bivariate analyses. These diagnoses were further examined in multivariate models. Limitations include the small sample size and the over-representation of people with high levels of education. Increasing our understanding of the relationships between health literacy and psychiatric disorders will help inform the development of appropriate psychiatric care and better outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Science, Northeastern University, 316 Robinson Hall, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. al.lincoln@neu.edu
authors.forename: Alisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lincoln
authors.forename: Dennis
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Espejo
authors.forename: Peggy
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paasche-Orlow
authors.forename: Jeanne L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Speckman
authors.forename: Terri L
authors.initials: TL
authors.lastname: Webber
authors.forename: Roberta F
authors.initials: RF
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006302:Health Services Research; D006306:Health Surveys; D006786:Hospitals, Urban / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007361:Intelligence Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008605:Mental Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D019966:Substance-Related Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology