Observational studyJournal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN2021
Health Literacy in Surgical Oncology Patients: An Observational Study at a Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Observational study in Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network : JNCCN, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 12 citations in OpenAlex.
- Beyond the patient: how providers perceive and experience non-medical barriers in gastrointestinal cancer care.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2026Article
- Knowledge Gaps in Patients Undergoing Thyroid Fine-Needle Aspiration BiopsyEndocrine, metabolic & immune disorders drug targets · 2026Article
- Cancer health literacy profile in Argentine oncology patients.Ecancermedicalscience · 2025Article
- Application of health literacy promotion systems in sexually transmitted diseases: An altmetric analysis.Journal of education and health promotion · 2025Article
- Health literacy in gastrointestinal diseases: a comparative analysis between patients with liver cirrhosis, inflammatory bowel disease and gastrointestinal cancer.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Knowledge of patients with sarcoma about their illness-a cross-sectional questionnaire-based study (KNOWSARC).Ecancermedicalscience · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundLow health literacy is associated with increased resource use and poorer outcomes in medical and surgical patients with various diseases. This observational study was designed to determine (1) the prevalence of low health literacy among surgical patients with cancer at an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center (CCC), and (2) associations between health literacy and clinical outcomes.
methodsPatients receiving surgery (N=218) for gastrointestinal (60%) or genitourinary cancers (22%) or sarcomas (18%) were recruited during their postsurgical hospitalization. Patients self-reported health literacy using the Brief Health Literacy Screening Tool (BRIEF). Clinical data (length of stay [LoS], postacute care needs, and unplanned presentation for care within 30 days) were abstracted from the electronic medical records 90 days after surgery. Multivariate linear and logistic regressions were used to examine the relationship between health literacy and clinical outcomes, adjusting for potential confounding variables.
resultsOf 218 participants, 31 (14%) showed low health literacy (BRIEF score ≤12). In regression analyses including 212 patients with complete data, low health literacy significantly predicted LoS (β = -1.82; 95% CI, -3.00 to -0.66; P=.002) and postacute care needs (odds ratio [OR], 0.25; 95% CI, 0.07-0.91). However, health literacy was not significantly associated with unplanned presentation for care in the 30 days after surgery (OR, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.20-1.29).
conclusionsThis study demonstrates the prevalence of low health literacy in a surgical cancer population at a high-volume NCI-designated CCC and its association with important clinical outcomes, including hospital LoS and postacute care needs. Universal screening and patient navigation may be 2 approaches to mitigate the impact of low health literacy on postsurgical outcomes.
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