ArticleAcademic pediatrics
Low caregiver health literacy is associated with higher pediatric emergency department use and nonurgent visits.
Article in Academic pediatrics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03235830 (Evaluation of Text Messaging as an Educational Method to Improve Healthcare Utilization), which is not on this map. Cited by 78 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Evaluation of Text Messaging as an Educational Method to Improve Healthcare Utilization
Who cites it
78 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 172 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review of the effectiveness of community-based interventions aimed at improving health literacy of parents/carers of children.Perspectives in public health · 2025Pooled it
- Interventions to Improve Health among Reproductive-Age Women of Low Health Literacy: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- Factors that influence family and parental preferences and decision making for unscheduled paediatric healthcare - systematic review.BMC health services research · 2020Pooled it
- Digital interventions for parents of acutely ill children and their treatment-seeking behaviour: a systematic review.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Pooled it
- Parents' pain medication underdosing is associated with more emergency department visits in sickle cell disease.Pediatric blood & cancer · 2018Trial
- Children's sugar-sweetened beverages consumption: associations with family and home-related factors, differences within ethnic groups explored.BMC public health · 2017Trial
- Development of a health literacy framework for primary health care service users in Qatar: a mixed methods study.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Caregiver awareness of pediatric respiratory red-flag signs and emergency activation intentions: a province-wide cross-sectional study in China.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Effect of physician communication on caregivers' anxiety in pediatric trauma patients: a quasi-experimental study.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2026Article
- Article
- Navigating care: a multicentre US survey of health literacy in paediatric perioperative care.British journal of anaesthesia · 2025Observational
- The relationship between stress, anxiety, and health literacy in parents of children with chronic gastroenterological diseases: a multi-center cross-sectional study.BMC public health · 2025Article
- Association between caregiver health literacy and patient characteristics in pediatric new onset diabetes mellitus.Public health · 2025Article
- Health Care and Health Information Access by Parents With Young Children in Regional Queensland.The Australian journal of rural health · 2025Article
- Patterns and determinants of potentially harmful first aid practices in children with acute poisoning.BMC research notes · 2025Article
- Easing the Burden on Caregivers- Applications of Artificial Intelligence for Physicians and Caregivers of Children with Cleft Lip and Palate.The Cleft palate-craniofacial journal : official publication of the American Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Association · 2025Article
- Latent profile analysis of perceived vulnerability among parents of children with febrile seizures.Frontiers in pediatrics · 2025Article
- Low caregiver health literacy is associated with non-urgent pediatric emergency department use.CJEM · 2025Article
- Article
- Low health literacy is associated with patient-clinician discrepancy in the perceived severity of medical emergencies.Frontiers in public health · 2025Observational
18 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveWe sought to determine the association between low caregiver health literacy and child emergency department (ED) use, both the number and urgency of ED visits.
methodsThis year long cross-sectional study utilized the Newest Vital Sign questionnaire to measure the health literacy of caregivers accompanying children to a pediatric ED. Prior ED visits were extracted from a regional database. ED visit urgency was classified by resources utilized during the index ED visit. Regression analyses were used to model 2 outcomes-prior ED visits and ED visit urgency-stratified by chronic illness. Analyses were weighted by triage level.
resultsOverall, 503 caregivers completed the study; 55% demonstrated low health literacy. Children of caregivers with low health literacy had more prior ED visits (adjusted incidence rate ratio 1.5; 95% confidence interval 1.2, 1.8) and increased odds of a nonurgent index ED visit (adjusted odds ratio 2.4; 95% confidence interval 1.3, 4.4). Among children without chronic illness, low caregiver health literacy was associated with an increased proportion of nonurgent index ED visits (48% vs. 22%; adjusted odds ratio 3.2; 1.8, 5.7).
conclusionsOver half of caregivers presenting with their children to the ED have low health literacy. Low caregiver health literacy is an independent predictor of higher ED use and use of the ED for nonurgent conditions. In children without a chronic illness, low health literate caregivers had more than 3 times greater odds of presenting for a nonurgent condition than those with adequate health literacy.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.