Evidence map›Paper›PMID 27142865›Full record

Trial reportHealth and quality of life outcomes2016

The impact of health literacy and life style risk factors on health-related quality of life of Australian patients.

Upali W Jayasinghe, Mark Fort Harris, Sharon M Parker, John Litt, Mieke van Driel, Danielle Mazza, Chris Del Mar, Jane Lloyd, Jane Smith, Nicholas Zwar and 2 more

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in Health and quality of life outcomes, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
80citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

80 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Trial
  5. Article
  6. Health literacy of the Deaf community: a scoping review.Journal of deaf studies and deaf education · 2026
    Article
  7. Article
  8. Mental illness and health literacy in people with cancer: the Australian National Health Survey analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Article
  9. Article
  10. Review
  11. Article
  12. Article
  13. Article
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

12 authors.

Upali W JayasingheCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Level 3 AGSM, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia. upali.jay@unsw.edu.au.
Mark Fort HarrisCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Level 3 AGSM, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Sharon M ParkerCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Level 3 AGSM, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
John LittDiscipline of General Pratice, School of Medicine, Flinders University, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Mieke van DrielDiscipline of General Practice, University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD, Australia.
Danielle MazzaDepartment of General Practice, Monash University, Notting Hill, VIC, Australia.
Chris Del MarFaculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.
Jane LloydCentre for Primary Health Care and Equity, Level 3 AGSM, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia.
Jane SmithFaculty of Health Sciences and Medicine, Bond University, Gold Coast, QLD, Australia.
Nicholas ZwarSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Richard TaylorSchool of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales Australia, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
Preventive Evidence into Practice (PEP) Partnership Group

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundLimited evidence exists regarding the relationship between health literacy and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in Australian patients from primary care. The objective of this study was to investigate the impact of health literacy on HRQoL in a large sample of patients without known vascular disease or diabetes and to examine whether the difference in HRQoL between low and high health literacy groups was clinically significant.

methodsThis was a cross-sectional study of baseline data from a cluster randomised trial. The study included 739 patients from 30 general practices across four Australian states conducted in 2012 and 2013 using the standard Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) version 2. SF-12 physical component score (PCS-12) and mental component score (MCS-12) are derived using the standard US algorithm. Health literacy was measured using the Health Literacy Management Scale (HeLMS). Multilevel regression analysis (patients at level 1 and general practices at level 2) was applied to relate PCS-12 and MCS-12 to patient reported life style risk behaviours including health literacy and demographic factors.

resultsLow health literacy patients were more likely to be smokers (12 % vs 6 %, P = 0.005), do insufficient physical activity (63 % vs 47 %, P < 0.001), be overweight (68 % vs 52 %, P < 0.001), and have lower physical health and lower mental health with large clinically significant effect sizes of 0.56 (B (regression coefficient) = -5.4, P < 0.001) and 0.78(B = -6.4, P < 0.001) respectively after adjustment for confounding factors. Patients with insufficient physical activity were likely to have a lower physical health score (effect size = 0.42, B = -3.1, P < 0.001) and lower mental health (effect size = 0.37, B = -2.6, P < 0.001). Being overweight tended to be related to a lower PCS-12 (effect size = 0.41, B = -1.8, P < 0.05). Less well-educated, unemployed and smoking patients with low health literacy reported worse physical health. Health literacy accounted for 45 and 70 % of the total between patient variance explained in PCS-12 and MCS-12 respectively.

conclusionsAddressing health literacy related barriers to preventive care may help reduce some of the disparities in HRQoL. Recognising and tailoring health related communication to those with low health literacy may improve health outcomes including HRQoL in general practice.

Indexed as

Health LiteracyLife StyleAdultAgedAttitude to HealthAustraliaCross-Sectional StudiesFemaleHealth SurveysHumansMaleMiddle AgedPatientsQuality of LifeRisk FactorsSocioeconomic FactorsHealth literacyLife style risk factorsMental component scoreMultilevel regression analysisPhysical component scoreQuality of lifeSF-12 version 2

Identifiers

PMID27142865
PMCPMC4855442

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.