Table 1.
Self-Reported Characteristics of Overweight and Obese Female Patients at Community Health Centers, by Race/Ethnicity and Health Literacya, Suffolk County, New York, 2008
| Characteristic | Non-Hispanic Black, n (%) (n = 170) | Hispanic, n (%) (n = 118) | Non-Hispanic White, n (%) (n = 109) | Higher Literacy, n (%) (n = 140) | Lower Literacy, n (%) (n = 222) | Overall, n (%) (N = 397) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetesb | ||||||
| High perceived risk | 29 (18.6) | 27 (24.1) | 32 (30.2) | 28 (23.7) | 27 (15.3) | 88 (23.5) |
| Low perceived risk | 127 (81.4) | 85 (75.9) | 74 (69.8) | 90 (76.3) | 149 (84.7) | 286 (76.5) |
| Family history | 111 (67.7) | 77 (67.5) | 63 (60.0) | 86 (63.2) | 141 (66.2) | 251 (65.5) |
| No family history | 53 (32.3) | 37 (32.5) | 42 (40.0) | 50 (36.8) | 72 (33.8) | 132 (34.5) |
| Heart diseasec | ||||||
| High perceived risk | 23 (14.2) | 16 (14.2) | 26 (24.5) | 22 (17.5) | 23 (12.5) | 65 (17.1) |
| Low perceived risk | 139 (85.8) | 97 (85.8) | 80 (75.5) | 104 (82.5) | 161 (87.5) | 316 (82.9) |
| Family history | 57 (37.0) | 48 (47.5) | 57 (57.6) | 65 (49.6) | 83 (42.6) | 162 (45.8) |
| No family history | 97 (63.0)d | 53 (52.5) | 42 (42.4) | 66 (50.4) | 112 (57.4) | 192 (54.2) |
| Age, y | ||||||
| <40 | 93 (56.0) | 69 (61.6)e | 51 (48.1) | 80 (58.0) | 112 (52.1) | 213 (55.5) |
| ≥40 | 73 (44.0) | 43 (38.4) | 55 (51.9) | 58 (42.0) | 103 (47.9) | 171 (44.5) |
| Weight perception | ||||||
| Perceives self as overweight | 109 (64.5) | 76 (65.0) | 87 (79.8)e | 111 (79.9)f | 136 (61.5) | 272 (68.9) |
| Does not perceive self as overweight | 60 (35.5) | 41 (35.0) | 22 (20.2) | 28 (20.1) | 85 (38.5) | 123 (31.1) |
| Overweight is personal health problem | 89 (52.7) | 64 (56.1) | 52 (47.7) | 68 (49.3) | 119 (54.1) | 205 (52.3) |
| Overweight is not personal health problem | 80 (47.3) | 50 (43.9) | 57 (52.3) | 70 (50.7) | 101 (45.9) | 187 (47.7) |
a
Assessed using the Newest Vital Sign instrument (18) and defined as adequate health literacy ("higher") vs any likelihood of limited health literacy ("lower"). The 2 categories do not add to the total of 397 because not all respondents took the literacy test.
b
Comparison group was low perceived risk. Participants diagnosed with diabetes (n = 92) were excluded from this analysis.
c
Participants diagnosed with heart disease (n = 57) were excluded from this analysis.
d
P < .01.
e
P < .05.
f
P < .001.