Health literacy among English-speaking parents in a poor urban setting

Sarah Lo, Iman Sharif, Philip O. Ozuah

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

We surveyed English-speaking parents attending an inner-city health center. Subjects read the label on a bottle of liquid medicine and 1) demonstrated how much medicine they should give, 2) stated how many times a day they should give the medicine, and 3) stated when they should give the next dose. We calculated adjusted odds ratios to test for the likelihood of incorrect medication dosing for subjects with and without demographic risk factors. Three hundred twenty six subjects participated. Overall, 252 (77%) demonstrated incorrect medication dosing. Medication dosing was more likely to be incorrect among young parents (AOR 2.45; CI 1.14, 5.26), immigrants (AOR 2.27; CI 1.04, 4.96), subjects without a high school degree (AOR 2.05; CI 1.04, 4.05), and those who did not recall ever having been shown how to use a medicine dropper (AOR 1.79; CI 1.01, 3.19). Implications for practice are discussed.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)504-511
Number of pages8
JournalJournal of health care for the poor and underserved
Volume17
Issue number3
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 2006
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Health literacy
  • Inner-city
  • Medication dosing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

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