Defining and identifying laboratory literacy as a component of health literacy: An assessment of existing health literacy tools

Jordan Franco; Nancy S Morris; Mark K Fung

doi:10.1016/j.acpath.2023.100096

Defining and identifying laboratory literacy as a component of health literacy: An assessment of existing health literacy tools

Acad Pathol. 2023 Nov 2;10(4):100096. doi: 10.1016/j.acpath.2023.100096. eCollection 2023 Oct-Dec.

Authors

Jordan Franco¹, Nancy S Morris², Mark K Fung³

Affiliations

¹ Robert Larner, M.D., College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, USA.
² Tan Chingfen Graduate School of Nursing, UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA.
³ Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT, USA.

Abstract

Health literacy has been defined and studied as an important component of a patient's ability to understand and obtain appropriate healthcare. However, a laboratory component of health literacy, as it pertains to the understanding of laboratory tests and their results, has not been previously defined. An analysis of readily available health literacy tools was conducted to determine laboratory testing-specific content representation. One hundred and four health literacy tools from a publicly available database were analyzed. Many of the health literacy tools were found to be lacking items related to laboratory testing. Of the health literacy tools that did contain a laboratory component, they were categorized pertaining to the laboratory test/testing content. Emerging from this process, eight competencies were identified that encompassed the entire range of laboratory-related aspects of health literacy. We propose that these eight competencies form the basis of a set of competencies needed for one to access, interpret, and act on laboratory results-a capacity we are referring to as "laboratory literacy."

Keywords: Health literacy; Laboratory literacy; Laboratory results; Laboratory testing.