Limited Health Literacy in Portugal Assessed with the Newest Vital Sign

Authors

  • Dagmara Paiva ISPUP-EPIUnit. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Unidade de Saúde Familiar Monte Murado. Vila Nova de Gaia. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-3767-8144
  • Susana Silva ISPUP-EPIUnit. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-1335-8648
  • Milton Severo ISPUP-EPIUnit. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Portugal. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-5787-4871
  • Pedro Moura-Ferreira Instituto de Ciências Sociais. Universidade de Lisboa. Lisboa. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4349-3709
  • Nuno Lunet ISPUP-EPIUnit. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1870-1430
  • Ana Azevedo ISPUP-EPIUnit. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Departamento de Ciências da Saúde Pública e Forenses e Educação Médica. Faculdade de Medicina. Universidade do Porto. Porto. http://orcid.org/0000-0002-7368-9609

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.20344/amp.9135

Keywords:

Health Literacy, Portugal, Prevalence, Validation Studies

Abstract

Introduction: In Portugal, health literacy has started to be addressed through national policies, but research on the topic is still scarce. We aimed to estimate the prevalence and sociodemographic correlates of limited health literacy in Portugal using an existing health literacy instrument, the Newest Vital Sign.
Materials and Methods: Following cross-cultural adaptation of the instrument, a sample of 249 participants was evaluated to assess reliability and construct validity of the Newest Vital Sign; the latter was tested assuming physicians would score highest, followed by health researchers, then by engineering researchers and finally by laypersons from the general population. We applied this validated version in a representative sample of 1544 Portuguese-speaking residents in Portugal aged between 16 and 79 years and quantified the associations between limited health literacy and sociodemographic characteristics.
Results: The instrument showed high reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.85). Health-related occupation showed association with higher scores in the Newest Vital Sign (p trend < 0.001). The prevalence of limited health literacy in the Portuguese population was 72.9% (95% CI: 69.4 - 76.4). We found no differences between men and women, but persons with limited health literacy were significantly older (p < 0.001) and less educated (p < 0.001).
Discussion: The burden of limited health literacy in Portugal is higher than that in other European countries. It should drive a universal precautions approach to health communication at all levels of the health system.
Conclusion: We validated a brief and simple instrument and estimated the prevalence of limited health literacy in the literate Portuguese population at roughly three out of four people.

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Author Biography

Dagmara Paiva, ISPUP-EPIUnit. Universidade do Porto. Porto. Unidade de Saúde Familiar Monte Murado. Vila Nova de Gaia.

Family physician at ARS Norte, PhD Candidate at Faculdade Medicina da Universidade do Porto, Junior researcher at EpiUnit-ISPUP (Epidemiology Research Unit - Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto, Refª UID/DTP/04750/2013)

Published

2017-12-29

How to Cite

1.
Paiva D, Silva S, Severo M, Moura-Ferreira P, Lunet N, Azevedo A. Limited Health Literacy in Portugal Assessed with the Newest Vital Sign. Acta Med Port [Internet]. 2017 Dec. 29 [cited 2024 Mar. 28];30(12):861-9. Available from: https://actamedicaportuguesa.com/revista/index.php/amp/article/view/9135

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Section

Original