TY - JOUR
TI - Health literacy in Europe: comparative results of the European health
literacy survey (HLS-EU)
AU - Sorensen, Kristine
AU - Pelikan, Juergen M.
AU - Roethlin, Florian and
AU - Ganahl, Kristin
AU - Slonska, Zofia
AU - Doyle, Gerardine
AU - Fullam,
AU - James
AU - Kondilis, Barbara
AU - Agrafiotis, Demosthenes
AU - Uiters,
AU - Ellen
AU - Falcon, Maria
AU - Mensing, Monika
AU - Tchamov, Kancho
AU - van
AU - den Broucke, Stephan
AU - Brand, Helmut
AU - HLS-EU Consortium
JO - Central European Journal of Public Health
PY - 2015
VL - 25
TODO - 6
SP - 1053-1058
PB - Oxford University Press
SN - 1210-7778
TODO - 10.1093/eurpub/ckv043
TODO - null
TODO - Background: Health literacy concerns the capacities of people to meet
the complex demands of health in modern society. In spite of the growing
attention for the concept among European health policymakers,
researchers and practitioners, information about the status of health
literacy in Europe remains scarce. This article presents selected
findings from the first European comparative survey on health literacy
in populations. Methods: The European health literacy survey (HLS-EU)
was conducted in eight countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Greece,
Ireland, the Netherlands, Poland and Spain (n = 1000 per country, n =
8000 total sample). Data collection was based on Eurobarometer standards
and the implementation of the HLS-EU-Q (questionnaire) in
computer-assisted or paper-assisted personal interviews. Results: The
HLS-EU-Q constructed four levels of health literacy: insufficient,
problematic, sufficient and excellent. At least 1 in 10 (12%)
respondents showed insufficient health literacy and almost 1 in 2 (47%)
had limited (insufficient or problematic) health literacy. However, the
distribution of levels differed substantially across countries
(29-62%). Subgroups within the population, defined by financial
deprivation, low social status, low education or old age, had higher
proportions of people with limited health literacy, suggesting the
presence of a social gradient which was also confirmed by raw bivariate
correlations and a multivariate linear regression model. Discussion:
Limited health literacy represents an important challenge for health
policies and practices across Europe, but to a different degree for
different countries. The social gradient in health literacy must be
taken into account when developing public health strategies to improve
health equity in Europe.
ER -