Can the Newest Vital Sign be used to assess health literacy in children and adolescents?

Abstract

Context: We evaluated the validity of the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) as a brief screen for health literacy in children.

Objectives: To (a) test the hypothesis that child performance on the NVS correlates with performance on a test of child reading comprehension and (b) establish age-based cutoffs for expected performance on the NVS.

Design: Children aged 7 to 17 years were administered the NVS followed by the Gray Silent Reading Test (GSRT).

Results: The NVS score correlated strongly with GSRT score (ρ = 0.71, P < .0001) and increased with age. Children aged 7 to 9 years had a median NVS score of 1 (interquartile range = 1-2); children aged 10 to 17 years had a median score of 3 (interquartile range = 2-4), P < .0001.

Conclusion: The NVS performs well in this population. Children aged 10 to 17 years with an NVS score lower than 2 may have low health literacy.

Keywords: Newest Vital Sign; child literacy; health literacy; pediatric.