Possibilities and Measures to Improve Health Literacy

NCT04628728 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: EK_NR_31-366 ex 18/19
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 982
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Health literacy describes one's capability to understand and implement health information in daily practice. Hospital referral letters remain a main information tool for patients as well as physicians with information about therapeutic measures done during hospital stay as well as recommendations on drug intake, further therapies or diagnostics to be done after hospital discharge. With increasing medical knowledge, hospital referral letters have become more difficult to understand for patients and stakeholders alike. The aim of this study is to develop a patient-friendly referral letter that is easier to understand while transporting the same amount of information for patients as well as stakeholders.

Conditions

Health Care Utilization; Medication Compliance; Information Seeking Behavior

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The primary endpoint of the study is the comprehension of medical content.

  The comprehension of medical content is assessed with a questionnaire-based survey encompassing specific questions inquiring the understanding of medical information delivered in the referral letters. All questions are answered based on a Likert-scale. Improvement of comprehension will be measured via comparison of the results between the two groups.

  1 day (single measurement by means of questionnaire)

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Subjective satisfaction with the referral letter

  1 day (single measurement by means of questionnaire)

• Influence of demographic parameters on the understanding of medical content

  1 day (single measurement by means of questionnaire)

Study Arms (2)

Current referral letters

One letter will be chosen from the selection of current referral letters (of average quality according to the results of the study mentioned above). Any data that would allow identification of the respective patient (i.e. name, date of birth, social insurance number, address) will be anonymised (not blackened in order not to disturb fluent reading).

Other: Survey based on questionnaire (self-designed)

New referral letters

The other one will be a corrected version of the first letter according to the ELGA (Elektronische Gesundheitsakte) requirements and the identified needs of patients and stakeholders (see Previous Work 1).

Other: Survey based on questionnaire (self-designed)

Interventions

Survey based on questionnaire (self-designed) OTHER

Participants are handed a questionnaire to asses comprehension of medical content provided in the referral letters.

Current referral letters; New referral letters

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years - 90 Years
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: No
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

1000

You may qualify if:

• Patients of any department of the University Hospital Graz at the time of hospital discharge, or during waiting hours at the outpatient department (since those patients can be regarded as not critically ill and in a mental and physical state that will allow them to fill out a questionnaire).
• Physicians of any department of the University Hospital Graz and outside of the hospital, irrespective of their specialisation
• Nursing staff of any department of the University Hospital Graz and outside of the hospital, irrespective of the additional training
• Students of the Medical University of Graz, irrespective of the field of study

You may not qualify if:

• Patients who are critically ill and/or mentally or physically obviously not capable to partake in the survey
• Participants who are unwilling to partake, i.e. did not fill out the informed consent

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Medical University of Graz: lead

Study Sites (1)

Medical University Graz

Graz, Styria, 8036, Austria

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Schwarz CM, Hoffmann M, Smolle C, Borenich A, Furst S, Tuca AC, Holl AK, Gugatschka M, Grogger V, Kamolz LP, Sendlhofer G. Patient-centered discharge summaries to support safety and individual health literacy: a double-blind randomized controlled trial in Austria. BMC Health Serv Res. 2024 Jul 9;24(1):789. doi: 10.1186/s12913-024-11183-w.

  PMID: 38982360 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Patient Acceptance of Health Care; Medication Adherence; Information Seeking Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Treatment Adherence and Compliance; Health Behavior; Behavior; Patient Compliance; Communication

Study Officials

• Christian Smolle, Dr.

  Medical University of Graz

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: CASE CONTROL
• Time Perspective: PROSPECTIVE
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: November 4, 2020
• First Posted: November 13, 2020
• Study Start: July 15, 2019
• Primary Completion: December 31, 2021
• Study Completion: December 31, 2021
• Last Updated: March 15, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-03

Locations

AU (1)