Health Literacy Among People Receiving HIV/AIDS Care in Georgia, 2009-2011

BACKGROUND:   Health literacy is the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services needed to make appropriate health decisions.  Health literacy and health-related knowledge are important factors in predicting patient ability to manage chronic conditions, grasp and retain treatment instructions, and adherence to medical regimens. The objective of this presentation is to describe the health literacy of people receiving HIV/AIDS care in Georgia.

METHODS:   We conducted cross-sectional analyses of data from a representative sample of 425 HIV-infected Georgia adults receiving medical care who participated in the Medical Monitoring Project between 2009-2011. Health literacy was assessed from three screening questions from the MMP interview tool.  Based on these three questions, patients were classified as having high or low to moderate health literacy.  Additionally, two questions were asked to access the participant’s understanding of antiretroviral therapy. 

RESULTS:   Of patients answering all three screening questions, 83% (351/425) were classified as having high health literacy (HHL) and 17% (74/425) were classified as having low to moderate health literacy (LMHL). A significantly higher proportion of LMHL  patients  had less than a high school education(37.3%) than HHL (11.2%)and earned less than $20,000/yr (82.8% and 48.2%, respectively).    Also, though not statistically significant, a lower percent of LMHL than HHL patients understood ART (61.4%vs 74.8%) and were virally suppressed (61.7% vs 71.3%). There was no difference in ART prescription (88% vs 85.1%).

CONCLUSIONS:   Low to moderate health literacy is more common among patients who have low educational attainment and who have a lower income.  Lower health literacy creates a barrier for patients to fully understand their health and treatments, such as antiretroviral therapy.  Differences in viral suppression may be related to differences in adherence. Further analyses are needed to examine whether potential differences in adherence are related to differences in health literacy.