Summary: | Health literacy (HL) is essential for men
receiving urological treatment so that they can be involved in the shared
decision making process. HL is supported by domain specific background knowledge
which also informs cancer literacy and comprehension. Comprehension is in turn a
determinant of HL. This study aimed to assess the level of HL among a group of
men receiving urological treatment and to investigate if there were any
correlations between the two different measures of HL, cancer literacy and
comprehension, and prostate cancer knowledge. A survey was mailed to 200 men
attending a urological clinic. The survey included: demographic questions, two
validated tests of HL, (1) the Brief Health Literacy Score (BHLS) and (2) the
Health Literacy Management Scale (HeLMS); a test of cancer comprehension; the
Cancer Message Literacy Tests Reading (CMLT); and a prostate cancer knowledge
test. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Surveys from 72
respondents, average age of 65 years, were included in the final analysis. Based
on the BHLS, 22% of respondents had inadequate HL and 50% of respondents had
inadequate HL in one or more of the HeLMS domains. Overall, the study
participants had relatively high cancer literacy, comprehensions, and knowledge.
However, for men with inadequate HL, based on the BHLS and the HeLMS, there were
strong correlations with poor cancer literacy, comprehension, and knowledge. Our
study highlights that many men receiving urological treatment with inadequate HL,
require additional support to access health information which they can understand
and act on to be part of the shared decision-making process.
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