Table 1.
Characteristics of the study sample by functional health literacy
| Participants’ Characteristics | All (N = 1066) | Inadequate or Marginal Functional Health Literacy (N = 75) | Adequate Functional Health Literacy (N = 991) | P-Value*† |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age at first STOFHLA, mean (SD) | 74.3 (7.73) | 82.17 (9.82) | 73.67 (7.21) | <.001 |
| Sex: Female, n (%) | 643 (60.32) | 33 (44.00) | 610 (61.55) | 0.003 |
| Education: n (%) | <.001 | |||
| < High School | 33 (3.10) | 15 (20.00) | 18 (1.82) | |
| = High School | 367 (34.43) | 32 (42.67) | 335 (33.80) | |
| > High School | 666 (62.48) | 28 (37.33) | 638 (64.38) | |
| Race: White, n (%) | 1001 (93.90) | 60 (80.00) | 941 (94.95) | <.001 |
| Total Annual Household Income: ≥$15K vs <$15K; n (%) | 922 (90.48) | 56 (81.16) | 866 (91.16) | 0.017 |
| Self-rated Health: n (%) | 0.058 | |||
| Poor or Fair | 148 (13.90) | 15 (20.00) | 133 (13.43) | |
| Good | 433 (40.66) | 35 (46.67) | 398 (40.20) | |
| Very Good or Excellent | 484 (45.45, | 25 (33.33) | 459 (46.36) | |
| Depression symptoms : n (%) | 0.731 | |||
| 0 | 681 (64.00) | 46 (61.33) | 635 (64.21) | |
| 1–4 | 29 (27.26) | 21 (28.00) | 269 (27.20) | |
| ≥ 5 | 93 (8.74) | 8 (10.67) | 85 (8.59) | |
| # Prescription Meds ≥ 4, n (%) | 605 (56.81) | 52 (69.33) | 553 (55.86) | 0.029 |
| System for managing prescription medications: “yes,” n (%) | 856 (86.3) | 59 (93.7) | 797 (85.8) | 0.117 |
| Assessment of medication adherence “fully adherent” n (%) | 945 (93.8) | 63 (91.3) | 882 (93.9) | 0.541 |
| Dependence in IADLs: n (%) | <.001 | |||
| 0 | 896 (84.05) | 44 (58.67) | 852 (85.97) | |
| 1–2 | 131 (12.29) | 17 (22.67) | 114 (11.50) | |
| >= 3 | 39 (3.66) | 14 (18.67) | 25 (2.52) | |
| Mini Mental State Exam < 28, n (%) | 399 (37.43) | 58 (77.33) | 341 (34.41) | <.001 |
| CDR® >= 0.5, n (%) | 157 (14.73) | 33 (44.00) | 124 (12.51) | <.001 |
| Attention Composite < 1.5 SD, n (%) | 89 (8.43) | 25 (34.72) | 64 (6.50) | <.001 |
| Executive Function Composite < 1.5 SD, n (%) | 86 (8.08) | 33 (44.59) | 53 (5.35) | <.001 |
| Language Compo site < 1.5 SD, n (%) | 86 (8.13) | 27 (36.99) | 59 (5.99) | <.001 |
| Memory Composite < 1.5 SD, n (%) | 67 (6.36) | 18 (25.71) | 49 (4.98) | <.001 |
| Visuospatial Composite < 1.5 SD, n (%) | 51 (6.44) | 13 (29.55) | 38 (5.08) | <.001 |
| WTAR Standard Score, mean(SD) | 106.4 (12.81) | 92.1 (15.85) | 107.4 (11.90) | <.001 |
| Visits to emergency or urgent care during preceding year; n (%) | 0.427 | |||
| 0 | 727 (68.2) | 52 (69.3) | 675 (68.1) | |
| 1 | 259 (24.3) | 15 (20.0) | 244 (24.6) | |
| >=2 | 80 (7.5) | 8 (10.7) | 72 (7.3) | |
| Hospital admissions during preceding year, n (%) | 0.199 | |||
| 0 | 873 (81.9) | 56 (74.7) | 817 (82.4) | |
| 1 | 142 (13.3) | 13 (17.3) | 129 (13.0) | |
| >=2 | 51 (4.8) | 6 (8.0) | 45 (4.5) |
*
For categorical variables, P values were calculated using Fisher’s exact test. For age at first STOFHLA were calculated using 2 sample t test. For WTAR standardized score, the P value was calculated using Wilcoxon rank sum test with continuity correction.
†
After applying the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons, the P value for statistical significance was (0.05/21 =) 0.0024.
SD: standard deviation
IADL: Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
CDR: Clinical Dementia Rating®
WTAR: Wechsler Test of Adult Reading