patient and her father
Credit: Rhoda Baer
A new tool can identify patients with limited cancer health literacy, according to research published in the Journal of Health Communications.
The study authors noted that cancer patients are expected to play an active role in their care by adhering to medication regimens, distinguishing between scientifically credible medical evidence and misconceptions, and communicating with their providers about treatment decisions, risks, and survival rates.
However, patients with limited cancer health literacy can struggle with these responsibilities and potentially jeopardize their health by making uninformed decisions.
So Levent Dumenci, PhD, of Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, and his colleagues developed a tool to assess health literacy among cancer patients.
“Before now, there were only instruments that measured a particular aspect of general health literacy,” Dr Dumenci said. “It is important to have a tool that is specific to cancer because of the complex treatment options that cancer patients face, along with the increased demand for self-care.”
To meet that need, he and his colleagues developed the Cancer Health Literacy Test (CHLT)-30. The test, which is given via a touch-screen device, includes 30
questions about cancer treatment, medication side effects, and other cancer-related issues.
Six of the questions (CHLT-6) were specifically designed to quickly identify individuals with limited cancer health literacy.
The researchers tested the CHLT-30 in 1306 African American and Caucasian patients who were treated at oncology clinics in Virginia.
The team said the test accurately measured literacy and quickly identified patients with limited cancer health literacy. Eighteen percent of cancer patients had limited literacy, with an overrepresentation of African American, undereducated, and low-income patients.
“Using this tool, it takes just 1 to 2 minutes in the doctor’s office waiting room to identify patients with limited [cancer health literacy],” Dr Dumenci said. “Then, this information can be digitally communicated to the doctors prior to seeing the patients, so that they are prepared to talk with the patients in terms they can understand. This simple change could lead to big improvements in health outcomes.”
In future studies, the researchers hope to evaluate the cancer health literacy of Hispanic patients because prior research has pointed to disparities in this population’s health literacy.
