Health literacy of patients admitted to a surgical oncology unit
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.12707/RVI23.106.32771Keywords:
health literacy, health knowledge, attitudes, and practices, attitude to health, chronic disease, oncology service, hospitalAbstract
Background: Health literacy (HL) is the ability of an individual to obtain and translate information in order to maintain and improve their health.
Objective: To characterize the level of HL of patients admitted to an oncology hospital and assess the reliability of the Portuguese version of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-PT).
Methodology: Cross-sectional, quantitative, descriptive, and methodological study. Sample of 188 patients admitted to a surgical oncology unit between May and September 2020. Data were collected through a sociodemographic and health characterization form and a HL assessment tool.
Results: The HLS-EU-PT had a high level of internal consistency. All domains and information-processing levels correlated positively with each other. Participants had on average a problematic level of HL.
Conclusion: The results indicate the need for greater investment in HL training. Further studies are needed in this population and in other populations and healthcare settings to provide an effective response to health problems.
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References
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