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Table 3 Health literacy scores by sociodemographic characteristics

From: Health literacy in a population-based sample of Australian women: a cross-sectional profile of the Geelong Osteoporosis Study

 

Scale 1.

Feeling understood and supported by healthcare providers

Scale 2.

Having sufficient information to manage my health

Scale 3.

Actively managing my health

Scale 4.

Social support for health

Scale 5.

Appraisal of health information

Scale 6.

Ability to actively engage with healthcare providers

Scale 7.

Navigating the healthcare system

Scale 8.

Ability to find good health information

Scale 9.

Understanding health information well enough to know what to do

Mean score (±SD)

Score range 1–4

Score range 1–5

Age

< 65

3.17 (0.55)

n = 455

3.10 (0.44)

n = 455

2.98 (0.53)

n = 454

3.07 (0.51)

n = 455

2.83 (0.49)

n = 455

4.18 (0.55)

n = 451

4.11 (0.54)

n = 451

4.20 (0.51)

n = 451

4.34 (0.48)

n = 451

≥65

3.23 (0.46)

n = 257

3.02 (0.42)

n = 257

2.99 (0.40)

n = 256

3.11 (0.48)

n = 256

2.77 (0.47)

n = 255

4.15 (0.61)

n = 253

4.05 (0.64)

n = 252

3.94 (0.68)

n = 252

4.16 (0.62)

n = 253

Effect size for age (95% CI)

−0.12 (−0.06, −0.17)

0.19 (0.14, 0.24)

−0.02 (− 0.07, 0.03)

−0.08 (− 0.06, 0.13)

0.12 (0.08, 0.18)

0.05 (0.00, 0.13)

0.10 (0.05, 0.18)

0.45 (0.40, 0.54)

0.34 (0.29, 0.41)

 Live alone

No

3.21 (0.51)

n = 559

3.09 (0.43)

n = 559

2.98 (0.49)

n = 558

3.10 (0.49)

n = 558

2.81 (0.47)

n = 558

4.19 (0.55)

n = 557

4.11 (0.54)

n = 557

4.14 (0.56)

n = 557

4.23 (0.51)

n = 557

Yes

3.17 (0.56)

n = 137

3.04 (0.48)

n = 137

3.02 (0.44)

n = 137

3.03 (0.53)

n = 137

2.79 (0.53)

n = 136

4.11 (0.67)

n = 135

4.04 (0.69)

n = 134

3.99 (0.68)

n = 134

4.17 (0.65)

n = 135

Effect size for live alone (95% CI)

0.08 (0.03, 0.17)

0.11 (0.08, 0.19)

−0.08 (−0.12, −0.01)

0.14 (0.10, 0.23)

0.04 (0.00, 0.13)

0.14 (0.09, 0.25)

0.12 (0.08, 0.24)

0.26 (0.21, 0.37)

0.11 (0.07, 0.22)

 Born overseas

No

3.20 (0.53)

n = 613

3.09 (0.44)

n = 613

2.99 (0.49)

n = 611

3.08 (0.50)

n = 612

2.81 (0.48)

n = 611

4.17 (0.58)

n = 606

4.10 (0.57)

n = 605

4.13 (0.57)

n = 605

4.29 (0.53)

n = 606

Yes

3.20 (0.46)

n = 98

2.96 (0.44)

n = 98

2.94 (0.45)

n = 98

3.10 (0.49)

n = 98

2.76 (0.51)

n = 98

4.17 (0.57)

n = 98

4.07 (0.58)

n = 98

3.97 (0.69)

n = 98

4.20 (0.60)

n = 98

Effect size for live alone (95% CI)

0.00 (−0.04, 0.09)

0.30 (0.26, 0.38)

0.10 (0.06, 0.19)

−0.04 (− 0.08, 0.06)

0.10 (0.07, 0.20)

0.00 (− 0.05, 0.11)

0.05 (0.01, 0.17)

0.26 (0.21, 0.39)

0.17 (0.12, 0.29)

 Health care card

No

3.19 (0.54)

n = 415

3.13 (0.43)

n = 415

3.02 (0.52)

n = 415

3.12 (0.48)

n = 415

2.84 (0.48)

n = 414

4.22 (0.55)

n = 412

4.13 (0.54)

n = 411

4.22 (0.50)

n = 411

4.36 (0.49)

n = 412

Yes

3.22 (0.49)

n = 282

3.01 (0.44)

n = 282

2.95 (0.43)

n = 281

3.05 (0.52)

n = 281

2.75 (0.49)

n = 281

4.12 (0.60)

n = 279

4.06 (0.59)

n = 279

3.97 (0.65)

n = 279

4.18 (0.57)

n = 279

Effect size for HC card (95% CI)

−0.06 (−0.11, 0.00)

0.28 (0.24, 0.33)

0.14 (0.09, 0.19)

0.14 (0.10, 0.20)

0.19 (0.14, 0.24)

0.18 (0.12, 0.25)

0.13 (0.07, 0.19)

0.44 (0.39, 0.52)

0.34 (0.30, 0.41)

 Private health insurance

Yes

3.24 (0.51)

n = 495

3.11 (0.43)

n = 495

3.02 (0.49)

n = 495

3.12 (0.47)

n = 495

2.83 (0.48)

n = 494

4.22 (0.54)

n = 490

4.14 (0.55)

n = 489

4.15 (0.57)

n = 489

4.32 (0.52)

n = 490

No

3.10 (0.54)

n = 203

3.00 (0.45)

n = 203

2.91 (0.48)

n = 203

3.01 (0.56)

n = 203

2.75 (0.49)

n = 203

4.05 (0.64)

n = 202

4.00 (0.63)

n = 202

4.02 (0.63)

n = 202

4.17 (0.58)

n = 202

Effect size for insurance (95% CI)

0.27 (0.21, 0.34)

0.25 (0.21, 0.31)

0.23 (0.18, 0.29)

0.22 (0.18, 0.30)

0.17 (0.12, 0.23)

0.30 (0.25, 0.30)

0.24 (0.20, 0.33)

0.22 (0.17, 0.31)

0.28 (0.23, 0.36)

 Health conditions

< 3

3.19 (0.51)

n = 570

3.09 (0.41)

n = 570

2.99 (0.49)

n = 568

3.12 (0.46)

n = 569

2.81 (0.48)

n = 568

4.21 (0.54)

n = 564

4.12 (0.54)

n = 563

4.16 (0.54)

n = 563

4.31 (0.51)

n = 564

≥3

3.22 (0.57)

n = 142

3.00 (0.54)

n = 142

2.96 (0.49)

n = 142

2.94 (0.60)

n = 142

2.80 (0.51)

n = 142

4.02 (0.68)

n = 140

3.97 (0.67)

n = 140

3.90 (0.71)

n = 140

4.14 (0.63)

n = 140

Effect size for conditions (95% CI)

−0.06 (−0.10, 0.04)

0.21 (0.17, 0.29)

0.06 (0.02, 0.14)

0.37 (0.33, 0.47)

0.02 (−0.02, 0.10)

0.33 (0.29, 0.45)

0.26 (0.22, 0.38)

0.45 (0.41, 0.57)

0.32 (0.28, 0.42)

  1. Results in bold indicate a p-value < 0.05 for difference in means tested using one-way ANOVA
  2. ES calculated using Cohen’s d. ES are interpreted as “Small” > 0.2–0.5, “Moderate” > 0.5–0.8, “Large” > 0.8
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