The roles of low literacy and social support in predicting the preventability of hospital admission.
J Gen Intern Med
; 21(2): 140-5, 2006 Feb.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16336616
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Prior studies found higher hospitalization rates among patients with low literacy, but did not determine the preventability of these admissions or consider other determinants of hospitalization, such as social support. This study evaluated whether low literacy was a predictor for preventability of hospitalization when considered in the context of social support, sociodemographics, health status, and risk behaviors.METHODS:
A convenience sample of 400 patients, admitted to general medicine wards in a university-affiliated Veterans Affairs hospital between August 1, 2001 and April 1, 2003, completed a face-to-face interview to assess literacy, sociodemographics, social support, health status, and risk behaviors. Two Board-certified Internists independently assessed preventability of hospitalization and determined the primary preventable cause through blinded medical chart reviews.RESULTS:
Neither low literacy (CONCLUSIONS:
While low literacy was not predictive of admission preventability, the formal assessment of alcohol binge drinking, social support for medical care, social network size, and prior outpatient utilization may enhance our ability to predict the preventability of hospitalizations and develop targeted interventions.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Apoio Social
/
Escolaridade
/
Hospitalização
Tipo de estudo:
Prognostic_studies
/
Qualitative_research
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Aged
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
Idioma:
En
Revista:
J Gen Intern Med
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA INTERNA
Ano de publicação:
2006
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Estados Unidos