Disparities in Parental Health Literacy at a Pediatric Cystic Fibrosis Center

Abstract

Background: Hispanic cystic fibrosis (CF) patients experience higher morbidity and mortality than non-Hispanic patients, even after adjustment for socioeconomic status. Reduced parental health literacy is associated with adverse child health outcomes in chronic disease, but has not been characterized in CF. Methods: Twenty-five parents of Hispanic children and 63 parents of non-Hispanic children with CF participated in the study. Health literacy was assessed using the English or Spanish version of a validated instrument according to each parent's preference. Results: Average health literacy fell in the adequate range for parents of both Hispanic and non-Hispanic CF patients, and was not significantly different between groups (p=0.17). Four parents of Hispanic CF patients (16%) demonstrated inadequate or marginal health literacy compared to zero parents of non-Hispanic CF patients (p=0.005). Conclusions: While parents of Hispanic children with CF were at higher risk for reduced health literacy, median heal...