Testing the reliability of the Health Literacy Questionnaire with carers of older adults receiving hospital care

Elissa Burton, Christine Toye, Susan Slatyer, Alessandro Ferrari Jacinto, Janice du Preez, Mary Bronson, Keith D. Hill

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleResearchpeer-review

3 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Objective: To determine the re-test reliability of the Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) with carers of older adults discharged from hospital or attending the outpatient clinic. Methods: Carers completed the HLQ twice by telephone and rated the acceptability of completing the tool. Tool completion time was recorded. Correlations were calculated between the test occasions using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and 95% confidence intervals. Results: Fifty-one carers of older patients participated. The HLQ showed good reliability (ICC = 0.75-0.90) for seven of the nine scales and moderate reliability (0.50-0.74) for the other two scales. Median completion time was 16.5 minutes (range 9-50), and acceptability was rated as 9.5/10. Conclusion: The HLQ is a reliable tool for use with carers of older adults attending hospital. However, the length of time for completion of the HLQ may limit its feasibility for use by hospital staff and carers, given the high stress and time pressures of acute care.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)213-217
Number of pages5
JournalAustralasian Journal on Ageing
Volume40
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jun 2021

Keywords

  • acceptability
  • carers
  • health literacy
  • hospital discharge

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