Evidence map›Paper›PMID 32414834›Full record

SynthesisFamily medicine and community health2020

What is the meaning of health literacy? A systematic review and qualitative synthesis.

Chenxi Liu, Dan Wang, Chaojie Liu, Junnan Jiang, Xuemei Wang, Haihong Chen, Xin Ju, Xinping Zhang

Abstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Family medicine and community health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 317 papers, 12 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
317citing papers in PubMed, 12 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

317 citing papers in PubMed, 12 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
  2. The Impact of Social Determinants on Healthcare Transition Readiness Among Adolescent and Young Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors: A Mixed Methods Systematic Review.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026
    Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Pooled it
  5. Pooled it
  6. Pooled it
  7. Pooled it
  8. Interventions Addressing Health Literacy in Cancer Care: A Systematic Review of Reviews.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2025
    Pooled it
  9. Pooled it
  10. Pooled it
  11. Pooled it
  12. Pooled it
  13. Trial
  14. Trial
  15. Trial
  16. Trial
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Access to Supportive Care Among Australian Cancer Carers: Experiences of Priority Populations.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2026
    Article

257 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

8 authors.

Chenxi LiuSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China.
Dan WangSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China.
Chaojie LiuPublic Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.ORCID 0000-0002-4870-4520
Junnan JiangSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China.
Xuemei WangSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China.
Haihong ChenSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China.
Xin JuSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China.
Xinping ZhangSchool of Medicine and Health Management, Huazhong University of Science and Technology Tongji Medical College, Wuhan, China xpzhang602@hust.edu.cn.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The objective of this review was to clarify what health literacy represents. A systematic review with qualitative syntheses was performed (CRD42017065149). Studies concerning health literacy in all settings were included. Studies before 15 March 2017 were identified from PubMed, Medline, Embase, Web of Science, Scopus, PsycARTICLES and the Cochrane Library. The included literature either had defined the concept of health literacy or made a detailed explanation of health literacy. A total of 34 original studies met the inclusion criteria, including 13 involved in previous systematic reviews and 21 new studies. Health literacy was commonly conceptualised as a set of knowledge, a set of skills or a hierarchy of functions (functional-interactive-critical). The construct of health literacy covers three broad elements: (1) knowledge of health, healthcare and health systems; (2) processing and using information in various formats in relation to health and healthcare; and (3) ability to maintain health through self-management and working in partnerships with health providers. Health literacy is defined as the ability of an individual to obtain and translate knowledge and information in order to maintain and improve health in a way that is appropriate to the individual and system contexts. This definition highlights the diversity of needs from different individuals and the importance of interactions between individual consumers, healthcare providers and healthcare systems.

Indexed as

Health LiteracyAccess to InformationCooperative BehaviorSelf EfficacySelf-Managementhealth literacypublic healthqualitative research

Identifiers

PMID32414834
PMCPMC7239702

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.