Testing the utility of the newest vital sign (NVS) health literacy assessment tool in older African-American patients

Objective: To evaluate utility of the newest vital sign (NVS) which can be completed in 3 min compared to the short version test of functional literacy in adults (S-TOFHLA) that takes 7 min for health literacy in the older African American patients. Methods: We enrolled 62 older (age > 65 years) African American patients and administered the NVS and the S-TOFHLA. A score of less than 4 for the NVS and less than 16 for the S-TOFHLA was indicative of limited health literacy. Results: Mean age of our patients was 73.2 + 7.9 years with an average education level of twelfth grade. Using S-TOFHLA 51% of the subjects were deemed to be sufficiently literate, with a score of 23.0 + 8.6 compared to 56% on the NVS with a score of 3.0 + 1.9. The average time for completing the NVS was 11 min in our patient population. Conclusion: Based on our data, while health literacy level can be assessed with the NVS its practicality as a quick screening tool in the elderly population appears limited. Practice implications: Knowing the level of patient's health literacy may help physicians deliver health information in the format that patients can understand. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.