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Review
. 2023 Jul 26;8(3):e23.00027.
doi: 10.2106/JBJS.OA.23.00027. eCollection 2023 Jul-Sep.

Health Literacy Awareness Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residents: A COERG Survey

Elaine Z Shing  1 , Meghan K Wally  1 , Rachel B Seymour  1 , Joshua C Patt  1 , Brian P Scannell  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Health Literacy Awareness Among Orthopaedic Surgery Residents: A COERG Survey

Elaine Z Shing et al. JB JS Open Access. .

Abstract

Musculoskeletal health literacy (HL) is an emerging concept in orthopaedic patient care. Estimated rates of low musculoskeletal HL in patients surpass those of general HL. Studies in other specialties suggest that medical trainees are ill equipped to interact with low HL patients, often with detrimental patient outcomes. The purpose of this study was to (1) establish the current state of HL awareness among orthopaedic surgery trainees, (2) characterize the current state of HL training in orthopaedic surgery programs, and (3) evaluate the desire for formalized HL training among orthopaedic surgery trainees.

Methods: This study was endorsed by the Collaborative Orthopaedic Education Research Group board. A 17-item questionnaire was administered anonymously to orthopaedic residents through a secure online platform in the 2020 to 2021 academic year. All participation was voluntary.

Results: One hundred ninety-two residents (42%) from 19 orthopaedic programs completed the survey. Most residents felt "somewhat comfortable" with issues related to HL. Most residents reported no specific training in HL issues during residency (77.5%). Of the 43 residents (22.3%) who did receive formal training, most of these individuals felt that the training is effective (N = 42, 97.7%). Role playing/standardized patient encounters were reported as the most effective form of HL training. Residents felt it was somewhat important to receive formal HL training in residency (median = 4.0, interquartile range = 3.0-5.0), and there was a modest desire for formalized training (39%).

Discussion: This study is the first to characterize orthopaedic resident perceptions of HL issues in practice and training. Residents were somewhat confident in their understanding of HL concepts, and those who received formal training felt it was effective. However, there remains a low rate of formal orthopaedic resident training in HL issues, which may be an area for improvement in orthopaedic training paradigms.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: The Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest forms are provided with the online version of the article (http://links.lww.com/JBJSOA/A535).

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Perceived barriers to communicating with low health literacy patients among orthopaedic surgery residents. Respondents were able to select more than one response. Data is presented as percentage of total responses.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Flowchart illustrating resident experiences with formal health literacy training in orthopaedic surgery residency programs. For nonbinary survey questions, respondents were allowed to select more than one answer.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Orthopaedic resident responses regarding formal health literacy training. Findings reflect a greater proportion of residents who want more health literacy training compared with those who currently have access to it.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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