Audit of literacy of medical patients in north Glasgow

Aims We aimed to assess the scale of the problem of illiteracy among our hospital's general medical in-patients and investigate any influence on literacy from gender, age, socioeconomic status, disease process and number of prescribed medications. Methods We employed a shortened version of the previously validated Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM) tool with medical inpatients at Glasgow Royal Infirmary. We also recorded gender, date of birth and clinical problem. Socioeconomic status was estimated from the patient's postcode using the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). Results 60 patients were invited to participate, however six (10%) declined. We therefore gathered data for 54 patients (54% male) with a mean age of 67 years. The female group had a significantly higher mean age of 73 years versus 62 years in men. The mean SIMD quintile was 3.5 (1 least deprived, 5 most deprived) and the mean number of medications was 7. 55% of our patients had a mean score of < 60 which represents low health literacy. There were no significant differences in literacy between men (median score 59) and women (median score 60). Reading ability was not found to be associated with socioeconomic group, diseased body system or number of medications on the drug chart (data not shown). Conclusions Low level health literacy is prevalent. Affected individuals may have difficulty understanding patient-orientated health literature, medication instructions, clinic appointment cards and hospital signage.