Table 2.

Subdimensions of health literacy, using the European Health Literacy Survey.

Health literacy subdimension	Information action
	Access and obtain health information	Understand health information	Appraise and evaluate health information	Apply and use health information
Health care	Ability to access information on medical or clinical issues	Ability to understand medical information and derive meaning	Ability to interpret and evaluate medical information	Ability to make informed decisions on medical issues
Disease prevention	Ability to access information on risk factors	Ability to understand risk information and derive meaning	Ability to interpret and evaluate information on risk factors	Ability to judge the relevance of the information on risk factors
Health promotion	Ability to update oneself on health issues	Ability to understand health-related information and derive meaning	Ability to interpret and evaluate health-related information	Ability to form a considered opinion on health issues