Poor health literacy and inappropriate test prescribing hamper the value of laboratory medicine. The disintermediation between test producers and interpreters may happen both in Point of Care Tests, where doctor mediation is provided, but laboratory expert supervision is not, and in Direct to Consumer Testing, where no medical mediation is provided at all. In these cases, the respect for patient's autonomy must not preclude the principles of non-maleficence (as an individual concern) and justice (as a societal concern), as wrong test interpretation can generate confusion, anxiety, inappropriate social behavior, useless medical examinations and considerable cost increase. Considering how different is patient ability to understand test results (if any) and handle any physical and psychological consequence, promoting health literacy and professional laboratory mediation become crucial professional priorities. The aims of this review are 1) to describe the importance of health literacy on laboratory test interpretation, medical advice and therapeutic compliance; 2) to discuss doctor-level, patient-level and caregiver-level educational interventions in light of the four principles of the value-based framework (personal value, technical value, allocative value and societal value). Based on these premises, the authors support the need to enhance health literacy in patients, help doctors improve the communication of results and validate commercial tests under the scrutiny of scientific community.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1515/cclm-2024-1158 | DOI Listing |
Indian J Med Res
November 2024
Department of Radiodiagnosis, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduation Medical Education and Research, Puducherry, India.
Background & objectives Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide and constitutes a public health priority. Delays in diagnosis and treatment of cancer can adversely impact survival, recovery, and cost of treatment. The objective of this study was to estimate the proportion seeking timely care among those having early warning signals for oral, breast or cervical cancer and to explore the facilitators and barriers to early detection.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIran Biomed J
December 2024
Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran.
BMC Prim Care
December 2024
Endocrinology and Metabolism Research Center, Endocrinology and Metabolism Clinical Sciences Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Background: This study examined the moderating role of e-health literacy (eHL) and patient-physician communication in the relationship between online diabetes information-seeking behavior (online DISB) and self-care practices.
Methods: A total of 1143 individuals with type 2 diabetes mellitus completed a cross-sectional survey assessing sociodemographic characteristics, data relating to diabetes clinical history, online DISB, eHL (eHealth Literacy Scale), aspects of patient-physician communication (IPC survey), patient self-care (Self-Care Inventory-Revised), and medication adherence (measure of adherence to prescribed diabetes medications). The data were analyzed using both bivariate (correlation) and multivariate (multiple linear regression) analyses using maximum likelihood estimation procedures in Mplus.
J Perianesth Nurs
December 2024
Department of Surgical Nursing, Nursing Faculty, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey.
Purpose: Health literacy is a complex issue that affects the health outcomes of surgical patients. This study aimed to determine the health literacy of general surgery patients.
Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study.
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