TY - JOUR T1 - Evaluation of a new performance-based health literacy measurement tool for individuals with chronic airways diseases JF - Respiratory Care DO - 10.4187/respcare.10441 SP - respcare.10441 AU - Iraj Poureslami AU - Ric Hohn AU - Jacek A. Kopec AU - Rick Sawatzky AU - Shawn D. Aaron AU - Samir Gupta AU - Roger Goldstein AU - Louis-Philippe Boulet AU - Noah Tregobov AU - Jessica Shum Y1 - 2022/11/21 UR - http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/early/2022/11/21/respcare.10441.1.abstract N2 - Background: Low health literacy (HL) is a global challenge. HL is positively correlated with chronic airways disease (CAD) desirable outcomes. Despite the importance of HL in disease management, current HL measurement tools are suboptimal. As part of a multi-stage project to develop a performance-based, disease-specific Vancouver Airways Health Literacy Tool (VAHLT) for individuals with CAD, this study assessed the relationships between VAHLT scores and CAD patient characteristics. The primary aim of the study is to provide preliminary evidence of construct validity of the VAHLT.Methods: A cross-sectional study design was applied. Study subjects were recruited from 6 specialty care clinics to complete the VAHLT measurement tool. Demographic and clinical data, including quality of life (QOL) and disease control, were collected via validated questionnaires. Study participants also completed spirometry test. Inferential analysis was conducted using mean difference testing and correlational methods.Results: 320 subjects were recruited, and after imputing missing data, 315 were ultimately analyzed. Participants were predominantly female (61%), white (83%), had post high-school education (74%), with a mean age of 65.2 (Standard Deviation (SD) = 13.2) years. Age was significantly negatively correlated with VAHLT scores (p = .004); subjects with post-high school education had significantly higher VAHLT scores than those with a high school education or less (p < .001). No significant sex or ethnicity related differences in VAHLT scores were observed. For clinical outcomes, no significant differences were found between VAHLT scores and disease severity or measures of QOL and asthma control.Conclusions: We report a CAD-specific HL measurement tool developed with involvement of patients and professionals. Age and education were highly correlated with HL, which emphasizes the importance of addressing these factors in HL interventions among CAD patients. ER -