“What Are My Injuries?” Health Literacy and Patient Comprehension of Trauma Care and Injuries

Abstract

Trauma patients often have complex injuries treated by multidisciplinary providers with wide-ranging expertise. We hypothesized that trauma patients would frequently incorrectly identify both their injuries and care teams. We also hypothesized that low health literacy level would be correlated with low levels of comprehension about injuries or care teams. We performed a prospective study of adult trauma inpatients >18 years. Participants were surveyed to report on 1) injured body regions 2) their care teams, and 3) health literacy via a validated survey. Self-reported injuries and care teams were compared to the patient's medical record. We also studied whether health literacy was associated with patient knowledge of injuries and care teams. Fifty participants were surveyed; thirty-two percent could not identify ≥50% of their injuries. Patients reliably identified injuries to the head, but injuries to other body areas were often misidentified. Forty-two percent of patients were not able to identify ≥50% of their medical teams, and 28% could not identify ≥75% of their medical teams. Patients often did not recognize teams such as nutrition, physical/occupationalt, or social work as part of their care. Thirteen participants reported adequate health literacy. Health literacy was not related to participant knowledge of injuries or care teams (both P=0.9). Many trauma inpatients were unable to correctly identify their injuries and care teams despite a range of self-reported health literacy scores.