142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition

Annual Meeting Recordings are now available for purchase

303264
Subjective social status, health literacy, and health-related quality of life in South Florida Hispanics

142nd APHA Annual Meeting and Exposition (November 15 - November 19, 2014): http://www.apha.org/events-and-meetings/annual
Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Raymond Ownby, MD, PhD, MBA , Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Amarilis Acevedo, PhD , Center for Psychological Studies, Nova Southeastern University, Fort Lauderdale, FL
Robin J. Jacobs, PhD, MSW , Department of Preventive Medicine, Public Health, & Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine, Nova Southeastern University, Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Background: Individuals’ perception of their position in the social hierarchy (subjective social status, SSS) has incremental usefulness in predicting health status beyond objective measures of SES such as income and education. Health literacy has also been related to SES, SSS, and health status. The purpose of these analyses was to evaluate the contributions of each to health status among Hispanics in South Florida.

Methods: As part of another study, 216 Spanish speaking adults aged 18 to 86 completed evaluations of their health literacy with the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) and a new measure of health literacy, VIDAS. An index of health status was computed from the scales of the MOS SF-36 (EQ-5D), and an index of SES  comprised education, income, and occupational status. SSS was assessed using a social status “ladder” in which participants were asked to place themselves on one of 10 rungs. Regression models included blocks of variables that first included demographics variables, then successively SES, SSS, and health literacy.

Results: Analyses showed that older age and female gender were associated with poorer health status (ps < 0.05). Higher SES was positively related (p = 0.03). Both SSS and health literacy were significantly related to health status (SSS and VIDAS, p =0.02 and 0.001, respectively; SSS and TOFHLA, p= 0.02 and 0.001).

Discussion: Subjective social status and health literacy each make independent contributions to health status. Future research should include both indicators in understanding health-related quality of life.

Learning Areas:

Assessment of individual and community needs for health education
Communication and informatics
Public health or related research
Social and behavioral sciences

Learning Objectives:
Discuss the relation of health literacy to health-related quality of life. Explain the usefulness of subjective social status in understanding health-related quality of life. Explain the various contributions of SES and subjective social status to quality of life.

Keyword(s): Latinos, Quality of Life

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have completed previous studies of health literacy and its relation to health status and health-related quality of life, including studies published in peer-reviewed journals as well as invited presentations at related conferences.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.