The impact of health literacy on health outcomes in individuals with chronic pain: a cross-sectional study.

Objective: To establish if health literacy (HL) is linked to poorer outcomes and behaviours in patients with chronic pain.

Design: A prospective cross-sectional observational study.

Setting: Multidisciplinary out-patient pain clinics in three university teaching hospitals.

An investigation of healthcare utilization and its association with levels of health literacy in individuals with chronic pain.

Objective: Chronic pain patients are frequent and recurrent users of health services, which may have an impact on levels of health literacy (HL). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate associations between healthcare utilization and varying levels of HL in individuals with and without chronic pain.

Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire was distributed in three pain clinics in Dublin, Ireland, comprising a demographic section, a validated HL assessment tool (Newest Vital Sign) and self-reported healthcare utilization in the previous year (i.