Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #109055

Ramona Finnie, MPH, CHES and Barbara Powe, PhD, RN. Behavioral Research Center, American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Road, NE, Atlanta, GA 30329-4250, 404-925-6805, Ramona.Finnie@cancer.org

Recently, there has been a growing interest in health literacy, defined as the ability of individuals to obtain, process, and understand basic health information. However, limited research has been done to evaluate the match between written breast cancer materials and the ability of women to read them. The Patient / Provider / System Model guided this exploratory pilot study that assessed the readability of two breast cancer pamphlets and the women's ability to comprehend the content. Data were collected using the breast cancer test of functional health literacy (BC-TOFHLA) and a demographic questionnaire.

A non-random sample of African American women (N = 34, mean age = 31 years, mean education = 13 years), was recruited during a visit to their primary care provider. The mean score on the BC –TOFHLA was 13 out of 40 points. Literacy level of the pamphlets was assessed at the 10th grade level using the SMOG readability formula. These finding suggests that the reading level of the pamphlets may be too high which may influence the women's ability to understand the information.

Despite the ongoing reliance on the written word for patient education, health literacy remains an underexamined aspect of breast cancer control efforts. Intervention at the organizational level is needed to identify more sustainable ways to target materials to specific populations.

Learning Objectives:

• Identify methods for evaluating print material for readability and comprehension.
• Compare and contrast the match between African American women’s educational level, their ability to comprehend the material, and the reading level of the pamphlets.
• Recognize the role of health literacy in breast cancer education and prevention efforts

Keywords: Health Literacy, Cancer Prevention

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.