Table 1.
Characteristics and health literacy levels of Hispanic elderly patients and their caregivers, by recruitment site
| Clinic |
Senior center* |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Patients (n = 70) M (SD) or n (%) | Caregivers (n = 70) M (SD) or n(%) | p value for difference between patients and caregivers | Patients (n = 104) M (SD) or n(%) | Caregivers (n = 104) M (SD) or n (%) | p value for difference between patients and caregivers | |
| Age, years (range = 30–96) | 75.5 (6.8) | 57.2 (14.5)a | <.0001 | 75.1 (6.1) | 69.7 (10.2)a | <.001 |
| Age category, n (%) | ||||||
| <65 | 0 (0) | 42 (60)b | <.001 | 0 (0) | 27 (25.9)b | <.001 |
| 65–70 | 16 (22.8) | 13 (18.6) | 28 (26.9) | 24 (23.1) | ||
| 71–80 | 38 (54.3) | 11 (22.5) | 51 (49.0) | 40 (38.5) | ||
| >80 | 16 (22.9) | 4 (5.7) | 25 (24.0) | 13 (12.5) | ||
| Male, n (%) | 27 (39.1)c | 17 (24.6) | .068 | 67 (64.4) | 24 (23.1)c | <.001 |
| Caregiver relationship, n (%) | ||||||
| Spouse/partner | 26 (37.1)d | — | 85 (81.7)d | — | ||
| Family member | 40 (57.1) | 9 (8.7) | ||||
| Hired caregiver | 4 (5.7) | 4 (3.9) | ||||
| Friend (unpaid) | 0 (0) | 6 (5.8) | ||||
| Education, years (range = 0–20) | ||||||
| Overall | 8.7 (4.5) | 12.5 (3.6)e | <.0001 | 8.6 (4.4) | 9.6 (3.8)f | .0849 |
| Spanish speakerf | 6.9 (4.7) | 11.5 (5.7) | .0138 | 4.6 (3.7) | 6.5 (4.0) | .0415 |
| English speakersg | 9.7 (4.1) | 12.8 (3.1) | <.0001 | 10.6 (3.4) | 11.0 (2.7) | .4204 |
| Education category, n (%) | ||||||
| Overall | ||||||
| Less than high school | 46 (65.7) | 17 (24.3)h | <.001 | 60 (57.7) | 51 (49.0)h | .419 |
| High school graduate | 12 (17.1) | 19 (27.1) | 27 (26.0) | 38 (36.5) | ||
| Some college | 8 (11.4) | 18 (25.7) | 14 (13.5) | 13 (12.5) | ||
| College graduate | 4 (5.7) | 16 (22.9) | 3 (2.9) | 2 (1.9) | ||
| Spanish speakers | ||||||
| Less than high school | 19 (76.0) | 5 (20.8) | .034 | 31 (91.2) | 26 (81.3) | .283 |
| High school graduate | 2 (8.0) | 1 (8.3) | 3 (8.8) | 4 (12.5) | ||
| Some college | 3 (12.0) | 1 (8.3) | 0 (0) | 2 (6.2) | ||
| College graduate | 1 (4.0) | 5 (41.7) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ||
| English speakers | ||||||
| Less than high school | 27 (60.0) | 12 (20.7) | <.001 | 29 (41.4) | 25 (34.7) | .466 |
| High school graduate | 10 (22.2) | 18 (31.0) | 24 (34.3) | 34 (47.2) | ||
| Some college | 5 (11.1) | 17 (29.3) | 14 (20.0) | 11 (15.3) | ||
| College graduate | 0 (0) | 2 (2.8) | ||||
| Acculturation | 2.4 (1.0) | 3.1 (0.9)i | <.0001 | 2.4 (1.0) | 2.4 (1.0)i | 1.00 |
| Acculturation level, n (%) | ||||||
| Strata 1 | 19 (27.1) | 5 (7.1)j | <.001 | 25 (24.0) | 23 (22.1)j | .214 |
| Strata 2 | 11 (15.7) | 9 (12.9) | 18 (17.3) | 27 (26.0) | ||
| Strata 3 | 34 (48.6) | 33 (47.1) | 51 (49.0) | 39 (37.5) | ||
| Strata 4 | 6 (8.6) | 23 (32.9) | 10 (9.6) | 15 (14.4) | ||
| Vision (20/X) | 38.3 (18.1) | 29.4 (13.8) | .0013 | 40.7 (20.1) | 30.6 (10.1) | <.0001 |
| Mini Mental State Exam score (range = 0–30) | 25.0 (3.5) | 28.6 (1.2)k | <.0001 | 25.0 (3.3) | 26.8 (3.0)k | .0001 |
| Geriatric Depression Scale score (range = 0–15) | 1.9 (2.3)l | 1.7 (2.8) | .6931 | 0.7 (1.2)l | 1.2 (2.0) | .0662 |
| Language S-TOFHLA administered (%) | ||||||
| English | 45 (64.3) | 58 (82.9)m | .013 | 70 (67.3) | 72 (69.2)m | .766 |
| Spanish | 25 (35.7) | 12 (17.1) | 34 (32.7) | 32 (30.8) | ||
| S-TOFHLA score (range = 0–36) | 16.1 (12.9) | 30.1 (7.8)n | <.0001 | 17.0 (11.3) | 21.8 (11.9)n | .0032 |
| Health literacy level, n (%) | ||||||
| Low (<23) | 45 (64.3) | 8 (11.4)o | <.001 | 68 (65.4) | 46 (44.2)o | .002 |
| Adequate (≥23) | 25 (35.7) | 62 (88.6) | 36 (34.6) | 58 (55.8) | ||
S-TOFHLA = Short Test of Functional Health Literacy Assessment.
*Differences in all patient and caregiver characteristics by recruitment site, clinic versus senior center, were tested using t test for continuous variables and chi-square statistic for categorical variables. If a significant difference was found, the p value is included in a footnote for the individual characteristic. If there is no footnote, no significant difference was found.
p value for age difference between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: <.0001.
p value for difference in distribution of age category between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: < .001.
p value for difference in proportion of male patients recruited from the clinic versus senior centers = .001.
p value for difference in distribution of caregiver relationship by recruitment site: <.001.
p value for difference in years of education between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: <.001.
Spanish speakers denotes those individuals who took the S-TOFHLA in Spanish; n = 37 at clinic sites and n = 66 at senior centers.
English speakers denotes those individuals who took the S-TOFHLA in English; n = 103 at clinic sites and n = 142 at senior centers.
p value for difference in distribution of age category between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: < .0001.
p value for difference in mean acculturation between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: <.001.
p value for difference in proportion of acculturation level between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers = .001.
p value for difference in Mini Mental State Exam score between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: < .0001.
p value for difference in Geriatric Depression Scale score between patients recruited from the clinic versus senior centers = .043.
p value for difference in proportion of caregivers taking the S-TOFHLA in Spanish versus English between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: < .0001.
p value for difference in S-TOFHLA score between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: < .0001.
p value for difference in proportion of low versus adequate health literacy between caregivers recruited from the clinic versus senior centers: < .001.