Reuters
Health information too complex for many in US-report
Thursday April 8, 1:57 pm ET
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Reuters) - Drug labels, consent forms and other health information are often in language that is too complex for many Americans to understand, a panel of experts said on Thursday.
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As patients continue to manage more of their own care, the inability to grasp medical jargon can lead to worsening health and higher costs, according to an Institute of Medicine report.
"Many people who deal effectively with other aspects of their lives may find health information difficult to obtain, understand or use," the independent group, which advises the federal government on health matters, said in its report.
Medical experts reviewed more than 300 studies and found language used by doctors, insurance companies and researchers is often above a high-school level. Information meant only for the public also includes highly technical terms, they said.
About half of all Americans adults, or about 90 million, read below a high school level, and half of those have trouble finding information on charts, forms and labels, according to the report.
Older adults, non-English speakers and those with less education have the most trouble, but the experts found native-born English speakers and those with more education also struggled.
Less-literate patients with chronic conditions requiring constant management are particularly vulnerable and can have trouble making decisions about their care, the Institute said.
NAVIGATING THE SYSTEM
Difficulties navigating the health care system are made worse by the flood of information from the government, food and drug companies, and the media, especially Web sites.
"People are frequently and repeatedly exposed to quick, often contradictory bits of information," the report reads.
The report also found such confusion can raise health care costs.
Less literate adults are less likely to follow healthy lifestyles or take advantage of preventive care, it found. They are also more likely to be hospitalized and use emergency services, which can increase health care costs $29 billion to $69 billion a year, studies said.
The experts reported their findings in a 331-page report that included seven chapters, four appendixes and nearly 30 tables and charts.
Some recommendations to make health information less complex included:
"... a national consensus conference to initiate the development of operational measures of health literacy which would include contextual measures."
"... the development of conceptual frameworks on the intersection of culture and health literacy to direct in-depth theoretical explorations and formulate the conceptual underpinnings that guide intervention."
Health care companies, federal health agencies and other groups should adopt simpler language to make documents more readable, the Institute said.
The report was paid for by Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE - News) , MetLife Foundation, the National Cancer Institute, and the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, among others.
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