Emergency department patients with low health literacy have fewer physician office visits and prefer ED care more than their health literate counterparts, according to a study in Medical Care.
Researchers interviewed and conducted a health literacy assessment of 492 ED patients at an academic medical center. After adjusting for sociodemographic and health status, patients with limited health literacy had fewer physician office visits, higher ED use and more potentially preventable hospitalizations than patients with adequate health literacy, according to the study. When insurance and employment status were also controlled for, patients with low health literacy still had fewer physician office visits.
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