Research and Findings
Research is needed to better clarify the relationship between literacy and patient-reported outcomes (PRO)
Prerequisites for this research are:
- development and validation of measurement techniques for low literacy populations
- validation of measures to ensure that differences in reported health between literacy groups do not reflect underlying measurement bias
Research studies were conducted in English and Spanish. Participants used the Talking Touchscreen (Pantalla Parlanchina) to complete PRO instruments. Item response theory (IRT) methods were used to evaluate measurement bias, and multivariable regression was used to compare literacy groups.
English
o People with cancer receiving care at several cancer care centers in the Chicago area (n=420) (
Hahn et al., 2007;
Du et al., 2008) See more Publications on this topic
§ there was no systematic bias in reporting health-related quality of life (HRQL), based on IRT
§ low literacy was not an independent risk factor for poorer HRQL
Spanish
o People with cancer receiving care at several cancer care centers in the Chicago area (n=414) (
Du et al., 2008;
Hahn et al., 2010) See more Publications on this topic:
§ there was no systematic bias in reporting health-related quality of life (HRQL) for most subscales, based on IRT
§ low literacy could be a marker, and possibly a risk factor, for poorer HRQL