Table 2. Bivariate association between health literacy and sociodemographic and clinical variables among patients with ischaemic heart disease.

			Inadequate health literacya
Variables	N	%	Prevalence %	95%CI	p-value*
Gender
Male	451	76.8	13.6	10.8–17.0	0.361
Female	136	23.2	16.7	11.4–23.8
Age group
<70 years	199	33.9	8.2	5.1–12.9	<0.001*
70 to 79 years	267	45.5	14.7	10.9–19.4
≥ 80 years	121	20.6	23.1	16.7–31.1
Marital statusb
Married	441	75.1	13.6	10.7–17.3	0.478
Unmarried	146	24.9	16.1	10.9–23.1
Residence area
Urban	428	72.9	13.1	10.3–16.6	0.153
Rural	159	27.1	17.7	12.5–24.4
State of general practice
South Australia	329	56.1	15.1	11.7–19.3	0.531
Queensland	258	44.0	13.3	9.7–18.0
Attained educational level
Degree or higher	64	10.9	9.5	4.3–19.8	0.011**
Certificate to advanced diploma	221	37.7	11.9	8.2–17.0
Secondary	239	40.7	15.0	10.9–20.2
No schooling to primary	63	10.7	25.0	15.6–37.6
Working statusb
Employed full or part time	93	15.8	11.2	6.3–19.3	0.657
Retired	126	21.5	13.1	8.2–20.1
Pensioner	368	62.7	14.7	11.4–18.7
Perceived economic situation
Very high to higher	100	17.0	11.4	6.5–19.2	0.549**
Similar to other people	367	62.5	14.9	11.6–18.8
Lower to very low	120	20.4	14.4	9.2–21.8
Economic position (quintiles)c
Highest	181	23.3	11.5	7.2–17.8	<0.001**
High	166	31.0	8.7	5.4–13.9
Middle	119	15.3	13.5	7.9–22.1
Low	121	30.3	22.5	17.0–29.1
History of revascularization procedured
No	163	27.8	15.1	10.3–21.4	0.770
Yes	424	72.2	14.1	11.2–17.7
Time since first ischaemic episodee
Up to 5 years	216	36.8	16.2	11.9–21.6	0.933**
6–10 years	179	30.5	9.1	5.6–14.5
10+ years	192	32.7	16.1	11.6–21.8
Number of other CVD conditionsf
0	357	60.8	11.9	9.0–15.6	0.032**
1	147	25.0	17.2	12.0–24.0
2+	83	14.1	19.5	12.4–29.4
Number of clinical CVD risk factorsg
0–1	133	22.7	14.4	9.4–21.4	0.651**
2	215	36.6	15.6	11.4–21.0
3+	239	40.7	13.1	9.4–18.0

* Chi-square for heterogeneity

** Chi-square for trend

CVD = cardiovascular disease

a–Score ≤ 34 on Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults

b–Variable with missing data

c–Based on the Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas Index of Relative Socio-economic Advantage and Disadvantaged (SEIFA-IRSAD). Individuals in the lowest quintile were not included due to logistic problems recruiting general practices in poorest areas.

d–Coronary angioplasty or coronary artery bypass graft

e–Angina, myocardial infarction, or revascularization procedure

f—Atrial fibrillation/other arrhythmia, heart failure, stroke, heart valve disease, heart-block, cardiomyopathy, and/or left-ventricular dysfunction

g—Hypertension, overweight, dyslipidaemia, diabetes mellitus, and/or chronic kidney disease