An examination of the relationship between health literacy and quality of physician-patient communication: A research in family health centers

Health literacy is one of the strongest social determinants of health, which has important effects on health outcomes, providing individual and social benefits, strengthening individuals by controlling their own health through the use of the right information. One of the most suitable areas for health literacy research is health communication. In this context, health literacy and physician-patient communication can affect each other. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between health literacy and the quality of physician-patient communication. The population of this study is constituted of patients aged 18 years and over who reside in the province of Ankara, Çankaya, apply to Family Health Centers in the same province and are not mentally disabled. A total of 500 randomly selected patients from 25 Family Health Centers participated in the study. While "Health Literacy Survey-European Union'' is used in order to determine the health literacy level of the patients, ''Interpersonal Processes of Care Survey'' is used in order to determine the quality of physician-patient communication. The general health literacy index of the patients was calculated as 30,25±7,28 on a 50-point scale. When the scores were examined in four categories, 20.9% of the patients were found to be inadequate, 48.3% of them were limited, 24.9% of them were sufficient and 5.9% of them had excellent health literacy. It was found that the general level or sub-indices of the health literacy of the patients showed statistically significant differences in terms of age, educational status, employment status, monthly income status, general health status, chronic illness status, number of family physician applications in the last 12 months and visit by family physician (p<0,05). Patients' perceptions of interpersonal processes related to care were found to be moderate and positive (general average 2,80±0,54 on a 5-point Likert scale). Statistically significant differences were found in some dimensions of interpersonal processes related to care according to gender, age, educational status, monthly income status, general health status, resource of first access to health information, number of family physician applies in the last 12 months, and visits by family physicians (p<0,05). It has been found that between health literacy indices and the dimensions of interpersonal processes related to care have low, positive and statistically significant relationships in general. Based on these findings, it is suggested to emphasize health literacy in the basic education curriculum and physician-patient communication in the medical faculty curriculum, have inter-institutional cooperation especially in health and education institutions, and reflect health literacy activities to the family medicine performance system. Key Words Health Literacy, Physician-Patient Communication, Quality, Family Health Center.