Reuters
by Natalie Grover

People with heart failure have higher odds of hospitalization and death if they have trouble getting and understanding good health information, a new study suggests…Dr. Matteo Fabbri and colleagues at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota surveyed 2,647 people with heart failure in the southeastern region of their state in 2013-2015. After the survey, they tracked the patients for an average of about 15 months. Nearly 11 percent of the study participants had poor health literacy, and these patients had a nearly two-fold higher risk of death, and a 30% increased likelihood of hospitalization, compared to the rest, the investigators report in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

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Context: Low health literacy is associated with increased risks of hospitalization and death in patients with HF. The clinical evaluation of health literacy could help design interventions individualized for patients with low health literacy. More information about the study can be found at Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Contact: Sharon Theimer

Tags: Dr. Matteo Fabbri, health literacy, Mayo Clinic Proceedings, Reuters, Uncategorized