Understanding health talk in an urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander primary healthcare service: a cross-sectional study

Health literacy is an important determinant of health status. This cross-sectional study aimed to describe the prevalence of adequate health literacy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients or their carers including parents of sick children attending an urban primary healthcare clinic in Australia, and their experiences of communication with General Practitioners (GPs). A questionnaire, including questions from the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS) and questions from the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS): Communication with Provider, was administered to 427 participants. Descriptive statistics, Pearson's Chi-Square test and logistic regression analysis were used to describe the prevalence and risk factors associated with health literacy and any associations between the CAHPS questions and health literacy. In total, 72% of participants had adequate health literacy. An age of ≥50 years was independently associated with inadequate health literacy, and completion of secondary or post-secondary schooling was protective. Communication questions that identified areas for improvement included less use of incomprehensible medical words and more frequent use of visual aids. The study provides useful information on health literacy among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients, or their carers, and their experiences of communication with GPs. Further population-based research is required to investigate the effect of health literacy on health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients