Associations between patient-level health literacy and diagnostic time intervals for head and neck cancer: A prospective cohort study.
Head Neck
; 46(4): 857-870, 2024 04.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38213101
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Health literacy (HL) comprises skills and knowledge required to understand, access, and make decisions about healthcare. Our aim was to examine associations between patient HL and time intervals (defined in the Aarhus statement) along the pathway to treatment of head and neck cancer (HNC).METHODS:
A prospective cohort study was conducted from October 2018 to March 2020. Participants completed the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ®) and described key events and dates along the pathway to treatment using validated questionnaires. Correlations between six diagnostic time intervals and domains of HL were explored, and factors predicting exceeding maximum acceptable timeframes were assessed using logistic regression.RESULTS:
One hundred patients with a diagnosis of HNC within the preceding 6 months were recruited. HLQ® Domain 2 (sufficient information to manage health) was significantly negatively associated with four intervals the patient interval (first symptom to first presentation), primary care interval (first presentation to referral to secondary care), diagnostic interval (first presentation to diagnosis), and total interval (first symptom to treatment onset); correlation coefficients -0.25 to -0.27 (P < 0.05). Domain 8 (ability to find good information) was significantly negatively associated with three intervals (primary care interval, diagnostic interval, and total interval; correlation coefficients -0.23 to -0.34; P < 0.05). Higher education, age, and comorbidity levels were associated with shorter patient and diagnostic intervals.CONCLUSIONS:
HL may be a potential target to improve timeliness of HNC diagnosis and reduce disparities in outcomes.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Coleções:
01-internacional
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Letramento em Saúde
/
Neoplasias de Cabeça e Pescoço
Tipo de estudo:
Diagnostic_studies
/
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Limite:
Humans
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Head Neck
Assunto da revista:
NEOPLASIAS
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Austrália
País de publicação:
Estados Unidos