title: The METER: a brief, self-administered measure of health literacy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Given rapidly accumulating evidence that health literacy is correlated with important health-related measures, assessing patients' health literacy level is of increasing concern for researchers and practitioners. Practical limitations for use of existing health literacy measures include length of time and practitioner involvement in administration.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To develop and validate a brief, self-administered measure of health literacy, the Medical Term Recognition Test (METER).
  
  
  METHODS
  155 participants were recruited from an outpatient cardiology program at an urban hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients completed measures of health literacy (METER and REALM), neuropsychological function, psychosocial health, and self-report questionnaires about health behaviors. Indicators of cardiovascular health were also recorded from patients' medical charts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The measure took 2 min to complete. The internal consistency of the METER was 0.93, and it correlated highly with REALM (r = 0.74). Regarding sensitivity and specificity for identifying individuals below REALM's cutoff for functional literacy, METER resulted in 75% correct identifications and 8% false positives. METER and REALM were both associated with various health-related measures (including significant correlations with measures of neuropsychological function and cardiovascular health).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These initial findings show that the METER is a quick and practical measure of health literacy for use in clinical settings.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Kent State University, P.O. Box 5190, Kent, OH, 44242-0001, USA. krawson1@kent.edu
authors.forename: Katherine A
authors.initials: KA
authors.lastname: Rawson
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gunstad
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hughes
authors.forename: Mary Beth
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Spitznagel
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Potter
authors.forename: Donna
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Waechter
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rosneck
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D057220:Health Literacy / Q000592:standards*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires / Q000592:standards; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D013997:Time Factors