Health literacy and cancer care coordination in Chinese migrant patients and their carers: A cross-sectional survey.

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the levels of health literacy and experience of care coordination among Chinese migrant patients with cancer and their carers in Australia, and to examine factors associated with these. Patients' self-reported data were collected using the Health Literacy and Cancer Care Coordination questionnaires. We conducted multivariate linear regression analyses to investigate predictors of patients' health literacy and their care experience. Canonical correlation analysis was used to examine the relationship between patients' health literacy and their care experience. A total of 68 patients and eight carers participated in the survey. Patients and carers reported similar levels of health literacy, with the lowest scores being in the "Having sufficient information to manage health" and "Navigating the health system" subscales. Gender (P=0.026, partial η2 =0.281) and educational attainment (P=0.015, partial η2 =0.250) had significant and large effects on patients' health literacy, after controlling for each other. Educational attainment showed a significant and medium association with patients' experience of cancer care coordination (P=0.041, partial η2 =0.101). A large and positive correlation was found between patients' health literacy and experience of cancer care coordination (canonical correlation=0.81). Our findings reveal the health literacy and care coordination needs of Chinese migrant patients with cancer in Australia, especially those with lower educational attainment. Future efforts are necessary to enhance Chinese migrants' health literacy and establish an accessible and easy-to-navigate care environment.