Effects of patient support group on health literacy: a study using the Multidimensional Health Literacy Questionnaire

Health literacy is important for patient care. Patient support group (PSG) is also crucial for patient education. Little is known about the effect of PSG on health literacy. We studied scores of health literacy before and after the intervention of a PSG. We also collected patient characteristics like age, gender, first-time participation or not, source of participants, and major diseases. We then identified factors associated with improved health literacy. A total of 43 participants (including patients and family) were studied with 100% response rate on questionnaires. Before PSG intervention, the highest score was the subscale 2 (understanding) (12.10 +/- 1.53), followed by subclass 4 (application) (10.74 +/- 2.34) and subclass 1 (accessing) (10.72 +/- 2.32). The lowest score was subclass 3 (appraisal) (9.77 +/- 2.39). After the statistical analyses, the final results in difference comparisons were subclass 2 = 5 > 4 = 1 = 3. The improved score of PSG was only noticed in subclass 3 (appraisal) after PSG intervention (9.77 +/- 2.39 vs 10.74 +/- 2.55, P = .015). Health literacy scores improvements were noticed in "Evaluate whether the health information can be used to solve medical problems" (2.51 +/- 0.68 vs 2.74 +/- 6.78, P = .048), and in "Evaluate the reliability of medical information from network" (2.28 +/- 0.83 vs 2.64 +/- 0.78, P = .006) (Table 3). Both scores belonged to subclass 3 (appraisal). We found no factor being associated with improved health literacy. This is the first study regarding the effect of PSG on health literacy. In all 5 dimensions of health literacy, the ability of appraising medical information is lacking in the current era. With suitable design of PSG, the PSG may improve health literacy improved literacy, including the dimension of appraisal.