Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health
Background: Although health literacy (HL) skills may change over time, most research treats HL as a constant, using baseline HL to predict other health-related constructs. Few studies have explored change in HL over time. Objective: We examined person-level differences in HL trajectories. We identif...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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SLACK Incorporated
2023-04-01
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Series: | Health Literacy Research and Practice |
Online Access: | https://journals.healio.com/doi/10.3928/24748307-20230419-01 |
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author | Sarah J. Schmiege Luohua Jiang Judith Albino Rachel L. Johnson Anne R. Wilson Angela G. Brega |
author_facet | Sarah J. Schmiege Luohua Jiang Judith Albino Rachel L. Johnson Anne R. Wilson Angela G. Brega |
author_sort | Sarah J. Schmiege |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Background: Although health literacy (HL) skills may change over time, most research treats HL as a constant, using baseline HL to predict other health-related constructs. Few studies have explored change in HL over time. Objective: We examined person-level differences in HL trajectories. We identified subgroups (latent classes) based on longitudinal assessments of HL and examined the association of class membership with demographic and oral health variables. Methods: We used four measurement waves of parental HL data, reflecting the risk of limited HL, collected as part of an intervention to reduce dental decay in American Indian children (N = 579 parent-child dyads at baseline). Repeated measures latent class analysis (RMLCA) models were estimated to identify subgroups of HL trajectories over time. We examined class membership in association with baseline demographics and with 36-month assessments of parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors as well as pediatric oral health. Key Results: A four-class model best fit the data. The largest class (high HL; 49.7% of the sample) was characterized by high levels of HL at all waves. A second class (improving HL; 17.7%) improved over all waves. The remaining two classes were characterized as moderate HL (20%) and low HL (12.6%) and maintained relatively stable HL levels over time. Higher educational attainment was associated with membership in the high HL and improving HL classes. Older age among this young-adult sample and higher income also were associated with high HL class membership. Parents in the high HL and improving HL classes exhibited more favorable performance on measures of oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behavioral adherence than did those in the other classes. Class membership was not associated with pediatric oral health. Conclusions: RMLCA demonstrated person-level variability in HL trajectories. Longitudinal patterns were associated with baseline demographics and prospectively with parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors, but not with pediatric oral health. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2023;7(2):e89–e98.] |
first_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:12:03Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-fe8b3575127048f9a9acb74ee5ba3b5e |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 2474-8307 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-03-12T16:12:03Z |
publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
publisher | SLACK Incorporated |
record_format | Article |
series | Health Literacy Research and Practice |
spelling | doaj.art-fe8b3575127048f9a9acb74ee5ba3b5e2023-08-09T13:37:35ZengSLACK IncorporatedHealth Literacy Research and Practice2474-83072023-04-0172e89e9810.3928/24748307-20230419-01Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral HealthSarah J. SchmiegeLuohua JiangJudith AlbinoRachel L. JohnsonAnne R. WilsonAngela G. BregaBackground: Although health literacy (HL) skills may change over time, most research treats HL as a constant, using baseline HL to predict other health-related constructs. Few studies have explored change in HL over time. Objective: We examined person-level differences in HL trajectories. We identified subgroups (latent classes) based on longitudinal assessments of HL and examined the association of class membership with demographic and oral health variables. Methods: We used four measurement waves of parental HL data, reflecting the risk of limited HL, collected as part of an intervention to reduce dental decay in American Indian children (N = 579 parent-child dyads at baseline). Repeated measures latent class analysis (RMLCA) models were estimated to identify subgroups of HL trajectories over time. We examined class membership in association with baseline demographics and with 36-month assessments of parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors as well as pediatric oral health. Key Results: A four-class model best fit the data. The largest class (high HL; 49.7% of the sample) was characterized by high levels of HL at all waves. A second class (improving HL; 17.7%) improved over all waves. The remaining two classes were characterized as moderate HL (20%) and low HL (12.6%) and maintained relatively stable HL levels over time. Higher educational attainment was associated with membership in the high HL and improving HL classes. Older age among this young-adult sample and higher income also were associated with high HL class membership. Parents in the high HL and improving HL classes exhibited more favorable performance on measures of oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behavioral adherence than did those in the other classes. Class membership was not associated with pediatric oral health. Conclusions: RMLCA demonstrated person-level variability in HL trajectories. Longitudinal patterns were associated with baseline demographics and prospectively with parental oral health knowledge, beliefs, and behaviors, but not with pediatric oral health. [HLRP: Health Literacy Research and Practice. 2023;7(2):e89–e98.]https://journals.healio.com/doi/10.3928/24748307-20230419-01 |
spellingShingle | Sarah J. Schmiege Luohua Jiang Judith Albino Rachel L. Johnson Anne R. Wilson Angela G. Brega Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health Health Literacy Research and Practice |
title | Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health |
title_full | Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health |
title_fullStr | Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health |
title_full_unstemmed | Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health |
title_short | Patterns of Change in Parental Health Literacy in Relation to Children's Oral Health |
title_sort | patterns of change in parental health literacy in relation to children s oral health |
url | https://journals.healio.com/doi/10.3928/24748307-20230419-01 |
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