Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2014 Jul 15;98(1):88-93.
doi: 10.1097/TP.0000000000000027.

Health literacy of living kidney donors and kidney transplant recipients

Leigh Anne Dageforde  1 , Alec W Petersen, Irene D Feurer, Kerri L Cavanaugh, Kelly A Harms, Jesse M Ehrenfeld, Derek E Moore
Affiliations

Health literacy of living kidney donors and kidney transplant recipients

Leigh Anne Dageforde et al. Transplantation. .

Abstract

Background: Health literacy (HL) may be a mediator for known socioeconomic and racial disparities in living kidney donation.

Methods: We evaluated the associations of patient and demographic characteristics with HL in living kidney donors (LD), living donor kidney transplant recipients (LDR), and deceased donor recipients (DDR) in a single-center retrospective review of patients undergoing kidney donation or transplantation from September 2010 to July 2012. HL and demographic data were collected. HL was assessed via the Short Literacy Survey (SLS) comprising three self-reported screening questions scored using the five-point Likert scale (low, moderate, high). Chi-square and logistic regression were used to test factors associated with lower HL.

Results: The sample included 360 adults (105 LD, 103 LDR, and 152 DDR; 46±14 years; 70% white; 56% male; 14±3 years of education). HL scores were skewed (49% high, 41% moderate, and 10% low). The distribution of HL categories differed significantly among groups (P=0.019). After controlling for age, race, sex, education, and a race-education interaction term, DDR was more likely to have moderate or low HL than LDR (OR, 1.911; 95% CI, 1.096-3.332; P=0.022).

Conclusion: Overall, living donors had high HL. The distribution of low, moderate, and high HL differed significantly between LD, DDR, and LDR. DDR had a higher likelihood of having low HL than LDR. Screening kidney transplant candidates and donors for lower HL may identify barriers to living donation. Future interventions addressing HL may be important to increase living donation and reduce disparities.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The authors of this manuscript have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Theory-driven, hypothetical model of donor recruitment. Transplant candidate health literacy and donor health literacy as well as other related factors including social and demographic factors, beliefs and attitudes, and health conditions all influence the process of identifying a living donor.
Figure 2
Figure 2
The distribution of health literacy categories [low (3-8), moderate (9-14), high (15)] differed significantly among the three patient groups (p=0.019). LD = living donor. LDR = living donor recipient. DDR = deceased donor recipient.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Recommended interventions to target organ donation in low health literacy populations.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Berkman ND, Davis TC, McCormack L. Health literacy: what is it? Journal of health communication. 2010;15(Suppl 2):9. - PubMed
    1. Williams MV, Baker DW, Parker RM, Nurss JR. Relationship of functional health literacy to patients' knowledge of their chronic disease. A study of patients with hypertension and diabetes Arch Intern Med. 1998;158(2):166. - PubMed
    1. Peterson PN, Shetterly SM, Clarke CL, et al. Health literacy and outcomes among patients with heart failure. JAMA. 2011;305(16):1695. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Kutner M, Greenberg E, Jin Y, Paulsen C. The health literacy of America's adults: results from the 2003 National Assessment of Adult Literacy (NCES 2006-483) 2006 Retrieved December 5, 2012, from http://nces.ed.gov/pubsearch/pubsinfo.asp?pubid=2006483.
    1. Dewalt DA, Berkman ND, Sheridan S, Lohr KN, Pignone MP. Literacy and health outcomes: a systematic review of the literature. Journal of general internal medicine. 2004;19(12):1228. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types