Journal article
Assessing health literacy in African American and Caucasian adults: Disparities in rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine (REALM) scores
Family medicine, Vol.36(8), pp.575-581
01 Sep 2004
PMID: 15343419
Featured in Collection : UN Sustainable Development Goals @ Drexel
Abstract
Background and Objectives: The influence of literacy on health and health care is an important area of investigation. Studies with a literacy focus are most valuable when literacy is assessed with psychometrically sound instruments.
Methods: This study used a prospective cohort sample of 1,610 primary care patients. Patients provided sociodemographics and took the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM), a 66-item word pronunciation literacy test.
Results: The sample was 65% African American; 66% were men; 51% had a high school education or less. REALM scores were significantly related to education, age, and race but not gender When stratified by education, differences between African Americans and Caucasians remained significant. Using 19 different strategies to shorten the 66-item instrument, reliability coefficients above .80 were maintained.
Conclusions: The REALM is a robust assessment of health literacy. However, the discordance in scores between African Americans and Caucasians with similar educational attainment needs to be further addressed. A much shorter instrument would still have internally consistent scores and potentially be more useful in clinical settings.
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Details
- Title
- Assessing health literacy in African American and Caucasian adults: Disparities in rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine (REALM) scores
- Creators
- J A Shea - Philadelphia VA Medical CenterB B Beers - Philadelphia VA Medical CenterV J McDonald - Philadelphia VA Medical CenterA Quistberg - Philadelphia VA Medical CenterK L Ravenell - Philadelphia VA Medical CenterD A Asch - Philadelphia VA Medical Center
- Publication Details
- Family medicine, Vol.36(8), pp.575-581
- Publisher
- Soc Teachers Family Medicine
- Number of pages
- 7
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Language
- English
- Academic Unit
- Urban Health Collaborative; Environmental and Occupational Health
- Identifiers
- 991019187057204721
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- Collaboration types
- Domestic collaboration
- Web of Science research areas
- Primary Health Care