Table 1 Summary of studies
Reference, 1st author, year, country | Study design | Population: (Age, ethnic/migrant focus, n (f = %) | Measure [Objective/Subjective] | Health condition | Domain | Intervention content [Total in-person contact timea (where applicable)] | Secondary Behavioural Outcomes measured |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Domain | Health Care | ||||||
  [30] Calderon, 2014 USA | RCT | Adults, Latino/Hispanic 240 (f = 81.66) | Diabetes Health Literacy Scale [Subjective] | Diabetes | Health care | 13-min animation [n/a] | None |
  [31] Tai, 2016 USA | RCT | > 55 None 118 (f = 62.71) | STOFHLA [Objective] | Taking 2 or more medications | Health care | A single one-to-one 10-min education session plus leaflets and sample labels for self-assessment [10 min] | None |
  [32] Gharachourlo, 2018 Iran | RCT | 18–35, None, 100 (f = 100) | Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire [Subjective] | Gestational diabetes | Health care | Counselling with a health literacy approach (6 X 1.5 h weekly sessions) [540 min] | Health lifestyle behaviours |
  [33] Knudsen, 2019 Denmark | Quasi-experimental | Adults, None, 77 (f = 9) | HLQ [Subjective] | PCI, CABG, or left heart valve surgery | Health care | 12 weeks of supervised exercise training, dietary advice, educational sessions and psychosocial support [unclear] | None |
  [34] Tavakoly Sany, 2019 Iran | RCT | 30–75, None, 80 (f = 73.75%) | TOFHLA [Objective] | Heart failure | Health care | Three educational group workshops [200 min] | Self-care behaviours |
  [35] Banbury, 2020 Australia | Quasi-experimental | > 50, None 111 (f = 64.86) | HLQ [Subjective] | One or more chronic conditions | Health care | 5 facilitative learning video-conference self-management group sessions [337.5 min] | None |
  [36] Handa, 2020 Japan | RCT | Adults, None 102 (f = 100) | HLS-14 [Subjective] | Breast cancer | Health care | Smartphone app for self-directed use to record symptoms and manage chemotherapy side-effects [n/a] | None |
  [37] Kim, 2020 USA | RCT | > 35, Korean American 209 (f = 40.9) | REALM, DM-REALM, TOFHLA, NVS [Objective] | Type 2 Diabetes | Health care | 6 × 2 h weekly education sessions, monthly motivational interviewing counselling sessions and daily self-monitoring of blood glucose levels [1050 minb] | None |
Domain | Disease prevention | ||||||
  [38] Li, 2016 Niger | RCT | Working age adults, Chinese, 1441 (f = 2.98) | Malaria Health Literacy Questionnaire [Unclear] | Malaria | Disease prevention | Malaria prevention and treatment messages via WeChat 3xweek for 4 months [n/a] | None |
  [39] Han, 2017 USA | Cluster RCT | 21–65, Korean American, 560 (f = 100) | Assessment of health literacy in cancer screening [Objective] | Cancer screening behaviours | Disease prevention | CHW provided education (Single 1.5–2-h small group session), monthly telephone counselling and navigation assistance over 6 months [155 min] | Cancer screening |
Domain | Health promotion | ||||||
  [40] Otilingam 2015, USA | RCT | > 40, Latino, 100 (f = 100) | NVS [Objective] | None | Health promotion (nutrition) | Two 2 h workshops (1 week apart) with culturally relevant nutrition education techniques and 3 behaviour change principles [240 min] | Nutrition |
  [41] Zhuang, 2016 China | Cluster RCT | Adults, None 6413 (f = unknown) | RAHL [Objective] | None | Health promotion (general) | Health education SMS message once a week for 1 year [n/a] | None |
  [42] Mas, 2017 USA | Quasi-experimental | 21 or over, Hispanic, 97 (f = 81.44) | STOFHLA [Objective] | None | Health promotion (general) | ESL curriculum (180 h) with HL content (5 × 2 h sessions) [600 minc] | None |
  [43] Parekh, 2017 USA | Pilot RCT | Adults, None, 59 (f = 100) | NVS [Objective] | Cancer survivors | Health promotion (nutrition) | 6 Small group nutrition education sessions (2 h duration) delivered fortnightly [720 min] | Nutrition |
  [44] Liu, 2018 China | Cluster RCT | 60 and above, None, 260 (f = 49.23) | Chinese Citizen health literacy questionnaire [Unclear] | None | Health promotion (general) | Teach back educational classes 40 min long once a month for 6 months [240 min] | None |
RCT | Adults, Hispanic, 155 (f = 80.65) | TOFHLA [Objective] | None | Health promotion (general) | ESL curriculum with HL content. 12 units over 6 weeks for total of 36 h (6 h sessions) [2160 min] | Cardiovascular health behaviours | |
  [47] Panahi, 2018 Iran | Cluster RCT | University Students, None, 130 (f = 60) | Health Literacy in Iranian Adults [Subjective] | Smoking prevention | Health promotion (smoking) | Six educational sessions via telegram Social media application [n/a] | Smoking |
  [48] Tsai, 2018 Taiwan | Quasi-experimental | Adults, Vietnamese/Indonesian 223 (f = 100) | Bespoke [Subjective] | None | Health promotion (general) | 10 session (2 h per session) every other week, problem-based learning HL program [1200 min] | None |
  [49] Uemura, 2018 Japan | RCT | > 65, None 84 (f = 70.23) | HLS-EU-Q16 and HLS-14 [Subjective] | None | Health promotion (nutrition and physical activity) | Weekly 90-min active learning program for 24 weeks [2160 min] | Nutrition and physical activity |
  [50] Fiedler, 2019 Germany | Crossover RCT | Adults, None 72 (f = 19.44) | German Health Literacy Questionnaire [Subjective] | None | Health promotion (general) | 5-month training program. Three modules delivered over 3-day classroom training, peer coaching and practice material. [1260 min] | None |
  [51] McCaffery, 2019 Australia | Cluster RCT | > 16, None, 213 (f = 70) | HLQ [Subjective] | None | Health promotion (general) | 18 week health literacy focused adult education curriculum [6480 min] | None |
  [52] Smith, 2019 Australia | RCT | > 55, None, 153 (f = 66.66) | HLQ [Subjective] | None | Health promotion (general) | DVD/web based multi-media education on complementary medicine [n/a] | None |