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Low Health Literacy Called a Major Problem
Brian Vastag
JAMA. 2004;291:2181-2182.
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Two major reports conclude that nearly half the adults in the United States have trouble interpreting medical information, thus jeopardizing their health and inflating costs while complicating the work of health professionals, conclude two major reports.
Consent forms, prescription drug directions, and oral instructions to patients are often communicated in language more complex than the average comprehension level of US adults, conclude both studies, one from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the second from the Institute of Medicine (IOM).
As a result, patients often take medicines on erratic schedules, miss follow-up appointments, and otherwise fail to grasp physicians' expectations. Dramatic examples shared at a press conference include that of a college-educated woman who did not unwrap a suppository before use, and a mother who poured antibiotic syrup into her daughter's painful ear. One study found that the majority of adults tested could not pick . . . [Full Text of this Article]
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