Table 2 Factors associated with low health literacy (HL) as assessed by scoring < 4 on the ‘Understanding’ scale

 17–24

18 (21.7)

62 (15.2)

0.22

 25–44

26 (31.3)

158 (38.6)

 45–59

18 (21.7)

115 (28.1)

 60–69

12 (14.5)

40 (9.8)

 70+

9 (10.8)

34 (8.3)

Male gender

51 (61.5)

265 (64.8)

0.56

Marital status

0.74

 Divorced, widowed or separated

14 (17.1)

57 (13.9)

 Married or defacto

45 (54.9)

227 (55.5)

 Never married

23 (28.1)

125 (30.6)

Educational level

0.001

 Primary or pre-primary

10 (12.1)

10 (2.4)

< 0.0001

 Secondary

28 (33.7)

125 (30.6)

0.6

 Technical/other further education

17 (20.5)

104 (25.4)

0.3

 Tertiary or university

28 (33.7)

170 (41.6)

0.18

Pre-injury paid work or self-employment

54 (65.1)

311 (76.0)

0.04

 12+

7 (8.4)

14 (3.4)

 9–11

8 (9.6)

26 (6.4)

0.05

 4–8

25 (30.1)

171 (41.8)

 1–3

43 (51.8)

198 (48.4)

Pre-injury disability^a

39 (47.6)

122 (29.9)

0.002

Pre-injury comorbidity

58 (69.9)

213 (52.1)

0.003

Lodging CTP claim

40 (48.2)

114 (27.9)

0.0003

Pain severity ratings

5.4 (2.6)

4.0 (2.6)

< 0.0001

Total DASS-21 score

20.5 (17.9)

10.3 (12.8)

< 0.0001

Total IES-R scores

5.4 (3.3)

3.1 (2.8)

< 0.0001

Pain catastrophizing Scale scores

22.1 (16.0)

11.3 (12.4)

< 0.0001

Hospital stay > 12 hours

50 (60.2)

225 (55.0)

0.38

Perceived sense of danger/death

0.01

 Overwhelming

16 (19.8)

30 (7.4)

0.0005

 Great

18 (22.2)

71 (17.5)

0.3

 Moderate

13 (16.1)

85 (21.0)

0.3

 Small

15 (18.5)

92 (22.7)

0.4

 None

19 (23.5)

127 (31.4)

0.16

Pre-injury psychological conditions

31 (37.4)

101 (24.7)

0.02

 Car driver

34 (41.0)

149 (36.6)

0.4

 Car passenger

14 (16.9)

35 (8.6)

0.003

0.02

 Motorbike

22 (26.5)

161 (39.6)

0.03

 Cyclist

3 (3.6)

40 (9.8)

0.07

 Pedestrian/skateboard

10 (12.1)

22 (5.4)

0.03

 Dissatisfied

3 (3.6)

4 (1.0)

0.06

 Neither

8 (9.6)

16 (3.9)

0.01

0.03

 Satisfied

72 (86.8)

389 (95.1)

0.004