Limited literacy and psychiatric disorders among users of an urban safety-net hospital's mental health outpatient clinic.

Full Abstract

Little is known about the relationship between mental illness and literacy despite both being prevalent problems. We examine whether literacy varies by psychiatric diagnoses. Interviews and chart reviews (N = 100) were conducted in a behavioral health outpatient clinic. The relationships among sociodemographics, rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine, measures of verbal and visual intellectual abilities, and psychiatric diagnoses were examined. The mean rapid estimate of adult literacy in medicine score was 55.9 which is equivalent to below an eighth grade literacy level. Psychotic disorder (p = 0.03) was associated with limited literacy, and substance abuse (p = 0.003) and PTSD (p = 0.07) were associated with higher literacy in bivariate analyses. These diagnoses were further examined in multivariate models. Limitations include the small sample size and the over-representation of people with high levels of education. Increasing our understanding of the relationships between health literacy and psychiatric disorders will help inform the development of appropriate psychiatric care and better outcomes.

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Author information

Author/s: Lincoln, Alisa (A); Espejo, Dennis (D); Johnson, Peggy (P); Paasche-Orlow, Michael (M); Speckman, Jeanne L (JL); Webber, Terri L (TL); White, Roberta F (RF);

Affiliation: Department of Health Science, Northeastern University, 316 Robinson Hall, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. al.lincoln(-atsign-)neu.edu

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: The Journal of nervous and mental disease (J Nerv Ment Dis), published in United States. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 196 (issue 9) : pp 687-93

Dates: Created 2008/09/15; Completed 2008/09/30;

PMID: 18791430, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 11/6/2008)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Adolescent
Adult
Comorbidity
Cross-Sectional Studies
Educational Status
Female
Health Services Research
Health Surveys
Hospitals, Urban - statistics & numerical data
Humans
Intelligence Tests - statistics & numerical data

Intelligence Tests - statistics & numerical data
Male
Mental Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology
Mental Health Services - statistics & numerical data
Middle Aged
Neuropsychological Tests - statistics & numerical data
Outpatient Clinics, Hospital - statistics & numerical data
Psychometrics
Psychotic Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology
Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic - diagnosis; epidemiology
Substance-Related Disorders - diagnosis; epidemiology

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