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Review
. 2013 Dec;10(4):295-304.
doi: 10.1007/s11904-013-0178-4.

Health literacy: impact on the health of HIV-infected individuals

Andrew J Wawrzyniak  1 , Raymond L Ownby, Katryna McCoy, Drenna Waldrop-Valverde
Affiliations
Review

Health literacy: impact on the health of HIV-infected individuals

Andrew J Wawrzyniak et al. Curr HIV/AIDS Rep. 2013 Dec.

Abstract

Health literacy is known to affect vulnerable communities such as persons living with HIV/AIDS. The purpose of this review was to provide a current summary of research on the impact of health literacy on the health of persons living with HIV/AIDS and to address future areas of need. Contemporary studies focused on expanding the reach of health literacy in HIV/AIDS to retention in HIV care, use of technology for assessing and intervening to improve health literacy, and health literacy across the globe, for example. A number of studies did not find health literacy to explain health behaviors whereas other studies supported such a relationship. Future issues relevant to health literacy in HIV/AIDS include the aging of the HIV population and associated comorbidities, studies to understand the role of health literacy in specific populations affected by HIV/AIDS, and the continued need to refine the definition and measurement of health literacy.

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Figures

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Fig. 1
Systematic literature review flow diagram
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