Table 2.
Sociodemographic characteristics and Newest Vital Sign (n=452)†
| Total n (% for column) | Health Literacy levels n (% for raw) | |||
| High likelihood of limited HL | Possibility of limited HL | Adequate HL | ||
| All | 452 (100) | 52 (11.5) | 111 (24.6) | 289 (63.9) |
| Female | 266 (58.8) | 30 (11.3) | 62 (23.3) | 174 (65.4) |
| Male | 186 (41.2) | 22 (11.8) | 49 (26.3) | 115 (61.8) |
| Age* | 53.25±11.72 | 59.44±9.61 | 57.79±9.88 | 50.40±11.77 |
| Nationality | ||||
| Italian | 443 (98) | 50 (11.3) | 110 (24.8) | 283 (63.9) |
| Foreign | 9 (2) | 2 (22.2) | 1 (11.1) | 6 (66.7) |
| Educational level* | ||||
| Bachelor’s degree and higher | 186 (41.1) | 9 (4.8) | 33 (17.7) | 144 (77.4) |
| High school degree | 192 (42.5) | 26 (13.5) | 49 (25.5) | 117 (60.9) |
| Less than high school diploma | 74 (16.4) | 17 (23.0) | 29 (39.2) | 28 (37.8) |
| Employment status* | ||||
| Employed | 299 (66.2) | 27 (9.0) | 57 (19.1) | 215 (71.9) |
| Unemployed or retired | 153 (33.8) | 25 (16.3) | 54 (35.3) | 74 (48.4) |
| Retired | 97 (21.5) | 20 (20.6) | 37 (38.1) | 40 (41.2) |
| Marital status | ||||
| Single | 70 (15.5) | 7 (10) | 15 (21.4) | 48 (68.6) |
| Married/domestic partnership | 320 (70.8) | 36 (11.2) | 79 (24.7) | 205 (64.1) |
| In a relationship | 12 (2.7) | 1 (8.3) | 1 (8.3) | 10 (83.3) |
| Divorced or separated | 34 (7.5) | 3 (8.8) | 10 (29.4) | 21 (61.8) |
| Widowed | 15 (3.3) | 5 (33.3) | 6 (40) | 4 (26.7) |
| Refusal | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (100) |
| Self-reported health status* | ||||
| Excellent | 27(6) | 3 (11.1) | 4 (14.8) | 20 (74.1) |
| Very good | 113 (25) | 9 (8) | 17 (15) | 87 (77) |
| Good | 208 (46) | 21 (10.1) | 53 (25.5) | 134 (64.4) |
| So-so/fair | 93 (20.6 | 15 (16.1) | 32 (34.4) | 46 (49.5) |
| Bad | 10 (2.2) | 4 (40) | 4 (40) | 2 (20) |
| Refusal | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0) |
| Long-term illness* | ||||
| No | 237 (52.4) | 27 (11.4) | 50 (21.1) | 160 (67.5) |
| One | 147 (32.5) | 11 (7.5) | 43 (29.2) | 93 (63.3) |
| More than one | 67 (14.8) | 14 (20.9) | 17 (25.4) | 36 (53.7) |
| Refusal | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (100) | 0 (0.0) |
| Body mass index class | ||||
| Underweight/normal | 265 (58.6) | 30 (11.3) | 60 (22.6) | 175 (66.0) |
| Overweight/obese | 186 (41.2) | 22 (11.8) | 51 (27.4) | 113 (60.8) |
| Refusal | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (100) |
| Family and non-family members in the household* | ||||
| Alone | 67 (14.8) | 6 (9.0) | 20 (29.9) | 41 (61.2) |
| Two people | 151 (33.4) | 23 (15.2) | 40 (26.5) | 88 (58.3) |
| Three or more people | 229 (50.7) | 22 (9.6) | 51 (20.5) | 156 (68.1) |
| Experience in the healthcare field | ||||
| Yes | 98 (21.7) | 10 (10.2) | 22 (22.4) | 66 (67.3) |
| No | 354 (78.3) | 42 (11.9) | 89 (25.1) | 223 (63.0) |
| Financial resources at disposal from own or family income enough to get to the end of the month * | ||||
| More than enough/enough | 316 (69.9) | 29 (12.8) | 75 (16.7) | 212 (70.5) |
| Barely enough/not enough | 132 (29.2) | 23 (17.4) | 34 (25.8) | 75 (56.2) |
| Refusal | 4 (0.9) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (50.0) | 2 (50.0) |
| Family or friends support to go to doctors visit (if needed) | ||||
| Yes | 388 (85.8) | 44 (11.3) | 98 (25.3) | 246 (63.4) |
| No | 61 (13.5) | 8 (13.1) | 11 (18.0) | 42 (68.9) |
| Refusal | 3 (0.7) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (66.7) | 1 (33.3) |
| Doctor visits | ||||
| 0 | 30 (6.6) | 5 (16.7) | 6 (20.0) | 19 (63.3) |
| 1–2 times | 196 (43.4) | 19 (9.7) | 43 (21.9) | 134 (68.4) |
| 3 or more times | 226 (50.0) | 28 (12.4) | 62 (27.4) | 136 (61.3) |
| Emergency department admissions | ||||
| 0 | 351 (77.7) | 37 (10.5) | 83 (23.6) | 231 (65.8) |
| 1–2 times | 91 (20.1) | 14 (15.4) | 26 (28.6) | 51 (56.0) |
| 3 or more times | 10 (2.2) | 1 (10.0) | 2 (20.0) | 7 (70.0) |
| Hospitalisations | ||||
| 0 | 401 (88.7) | 43 (10.7) | 100 (24.9) | 258 (64.3) |
| 1–2 times | 46 (10.2) | 9 (19.6) | 9 (19.6) | 28 (60.9) |
| 3 or more times | 5 (1.1) | 0 (0.0) | 2 (40.0) | 3 (60.0) |
| Outpatients specialist care access | ||||
| 0 | 61 (13.5) | 9 (14.8) | 16 (26.2) | 36 (59.0) |
| 1–2 times | 162 (35.8) | 15 (9.3) | 42 (25.9) | 105 (64.8) |
| 3 or more times | 228 (50.4) | 28 (12.3) | 53 (23.2) | 147 (64.5) |
| Refusal | 1 (0.2) | 0 (0.0) | 0 (0.0) | 1 (100) |
*P<0.05.
†Difference between 100% and the sum of the percentages of each variable corresponds to missing values.
HL, health literacy.