Relationship between emergency department appearance and health literacy

Abstract

Introduction: Nowadays, it is becoming more and more difficult to adjust our health systems and make the right decisions on our health issues. To facilitate all of this, we need to look at the level of health awareness of the population as an important factor, as it has a major impact on our decisions about health care systems. Our aim was to measure (1) the level of health literacy, (2) the use of the emergency patient care system, (3) the satisfaction with it, and (4) the level of knowledge about the triage system (5) and the relationship between this variables.

Methodology: Our research was cross-sectional, quantitative research with 186 participants, who were reached in April and May 2019 by means of the Sellye Health Development Office and the involvement of GPs (assistance in recruitment). The respondents were involved after reading the research information and filling in the consent form. Data were collected using a self-edited questionnaire that included sociodemographic questions, questions about emergency department appearance, satisfaction, and triage, and also a standardized questionnaire for health literacy. Descriptive statistical procedures (mean, standard deviation) were used to describe the features of the sample and mathematical calculations (Pearson’s correlation, ANOVA, two-sample t-test) were performed to examine the correlations. Data were recorded and processed with SPSS 22.0. The results were considered significant at a p < 0.05 level.

Results: The willingness to participate in the research was 75.8%. Examining the excursion criteria, we had 141 questionnaires to analyze. Education (p = 0.018), health education (p < 0.001), type of residence (p = 0.043), economic status (p = 0.027) and presence of children in the household (p = 0.015) showed a significant correlation between the level of health literacy. Of the respondents, 69 (48.9%) received care in the emergency department. 65.2% of the participants thought that he/she was familiar with the meaning of the triage. In the case of appearance in the emergency department, 46.5% of the patients were triaged within 10 minutes, but in the case of 27.6%, it took more than 30 minutes. Overall, almost in all categories (except for the disease prevention sub-index), almost 50% of respondents have a limited level of health literacy (comprehensive health literacy): 46.1%; health care subindex: 48.2%; disease prevention subindex: 33.3%; health promotion subindex: 49.6%). There was no correlation between emergency department visits and health literacy level. Respondents had an average sufficient level of health literacy.

Conclusions: In our study, we obtained similar results in terms of health literacy as in previous studies, almost half of the respondents have a problematic level of health literacy and there was a correlation between sociodemographic data and health literacy level. It is important to point out that although patients are thought to know the terms used during emergency care, this is not entirely true. Nevertheless, they were satisfied with the care in every scene. The need for a more accurate flow of information about the system is displayed. Satisfaction was more positive in terms of care and information transfer.