TABLE 3.
Associations between five literacy profiles and single‐item CAHPS ratings of poor physician communication, diabetes‐related health outcomes (%), and annual health care service utilization—mean visits (SD)
| Health outcomes | Literacy profile | LP_FK | LP_LD | LP_WQ | LP_SR | LP_Exp |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Poor Physician Communication (%) | Limited health literacy | 12.2 | 10.6 | 9.2 | 13.8 | 15.5 |
| Adequate health literacy | 8.8 | 9.6 | 10.7 | 7.3 | 11.3 | |
| P‐value | .0919 | .5610 | .1372 | <.001 | <.001 | |
| Poor medication adherence (%) | Limited health literacy | 29.0 | 26.6 | 23.9 | 25.6 | 27.9 |
| Adequate health literacy | 22.9 | 23.8 | 25.3 | 23.4 | 22.9 | |
| P‐value | .043 | .277 | .364 | .047 | <.001 | |
| ≥1 Severe Hypoglycemia (%) | Limited health literacy | 8.9 | 4.3 | 2.9 | 5.1 | 4.3 |
| Adequate health literacy | 3.1 | 3.3 | 3.9 | 2.0 | 3.4 | |
| P‐value | <.001 | .318 | .119 | <.001 | .02 | |
| HbA1c ≤ 7% | Limited health literacy | 40.2 | 44.8 | 47.4 | 45.9 | 43.3 |
| Adequate health literacy | 48.8 | 48.5 | 45.2 | 47.7 | 47.4 | |
| P‐value | .011 | .202 | .193 | .141 | <.001 | |
| HbA1c ≥ 9% | Limited health literacy | 19.1 | 13.3 | 13.8 | 14.6 | 16.4 |
| Adequate health literacy | 13.7 | 13.5 | 14.6 | 13.5 | 13.0 | |
| P‐value | .02 | .91 | .499 | .24 | <.001 | |
| Charlson Index | Limited health literacy | 2.61 (1.84) | 2.36 (1.69) | 2.20 (1.61) | 2.65 (1.91) | 2.42 (1.79) |
| Adequate health literacy | 2.28 (1.68) | 2.31 (1.69) | 2.40 (1.72) | 2.02 (1.41) | 2.32 (1.70) | |
| P‐value | .004 | .636 | <.001 | <.001 | .006 | |
| Outpatient clinic visits | Limited health literacy | 9.10 (7.37) | 9.01 (8.98) | 9.45 (9.75) | 10.29 (10.7) | 9.83 (10.6) |
| Adequate health literacy | 9.53 (9.33) | 9.61 (10.3) | 9.42 (9.53) | 9.01 (9.16) | 9.68 (9.57) | |
| P‐value | .479 | .301 | .931 | <.001 | .499 | |
| ED visits | Limited health literacy | 0.48 (1.00) | 0.47 (1.15) | 0.38 (0.94) | 0.53 (1.20) | 0.47 (1.14) |
| Adequate health literacy | 0.39 (0.94) | 0.38 (0.88) | 0.43 (0.96) | 0.31 (0.76) | 0.42 (1.01) | |
| P‐value | .170 | .102 | .085 | <.001 | .016 | |
| Hospitalization | Limited health literacy | 0.23 (0.71) | 0.21 (0.61) | 0.17 (0.60) | 0.25 (0.73) | 0.20 (0.65) |
| Adequate health literacy | 0.18 (0.62) | 0.19 (0.65) | 0.19 (0.67) | 0.13 (0.54) | 0.20 (0.67) | |
| P‐value | .243 | .604 | .503 | <.001 | .713 |
Abbreviations: Exp, Expert‐Rated; FK, Flesch‐Kincaid; LD, Lexical Diversity; LP, Literacy Profile; SD, Standard Deviation; SR, Self‐Reported; WQ, Writing Quality.