Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40493611›Full record

SynthesisPloS one2025

An update on health literacy dimensions: An umbrella review.

Craig Smith, Stephen Behan, Sarahjane Belton, Catherine Nicholl, Maeve Murray, Hannah Goss

Erratum issuedAbstract readSystematic Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in PloS one, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 14 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
14citing papers in PubMed, 2 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

14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Pooled it
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  14. Exploring Mental Health Literacy and Quality of Life in Multiple Sclerosis: A Cross-Sectional Study.The Journal of neuroscience nursing : journal of the American Association of Neuroscience Nurses
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Craig SmithDepartment of Public Health and Epidemiology, School of Population Health, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, University of Medicine and Health Sciences, Dublin D02DH60, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0003-1768-6726
Stephen BehanSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
Sarahjane BeltonSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
Catherine NichollSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.
Maeve MurraySchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.ORCID 0000-0001-7173-0586
Hannah GossSchool of Health and Human Performance, Dublin City University, Dublin, Ireland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Awareness of the value of health literacy has grown significantly in recent years, with the concept increasingly integrated within public health policy, research and practice, and notably, more commonly being explored in a systems approach to health promotion. The concept does however appear to be constantly evolving, with various iterations of definitions being used. As such, there is a need to review and update understanding of health literacy's core components. This umbrella review aims to provide a contemporary understanding of health literacy and its dimensions. Searches were conducted between July and August 2023 across three databases, and 784 studies were identified and screened, with nine systematic reviews identified for extraction. All included systematic review articles aimed to conceptualise or define health literacy. Following a quality assessment, using the AMSTAR-2, inductive analysis was carried out to map specific health literacy dimensions identified in each included study to previously identified health literacy clusters. The findings of this umbrella review highlight the ever-evolving nature of the concept of health literacy; the responsibility placed on the individual to develop and maintain adequate health literacy. Despite the relatively poor reporting quality of many of the review articles included, the findings from this umbrella review point to the difficulty in developing tools to comprehensively measure health literacy, and critically, how to effectively improve health literacy at both an individual and populational level.

Indexed as

Health LiteracyHealth PromotionHumans

Identifiers

PMID40493611
PMCPMC12151441

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.