Health Literacy and Heart Failure Care in Minority Communities

Letters20 February 2007Health Literacy and Heart Failure Care in Minority CommunitiesMichael P. Pignone, MD, MPH and Darren A. DeWalt, MD, MPHMichael P. Pignone, MD, MPHUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.Search for more papers by this author and Darren A. DeWalt, MD, MPHUniversity of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-146-4-200702200-00014 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail TO THE EDITOR: Sisk and colleagues (1) found that a nurse-led intervention reduced hospitalizations for patients with systolic heart failure who were recruited from ambulatory clinics in Harlem, New York. We recently reported similar findings with a self-management program in ambulatory patients with heart failure (both systolic and diastolic dysfunction) who were recruited from an academic internal medicine practice in North Carolina (2). Incidence of hospitalizations was reduced by 47%.Our study sample included many patients with low education (an average of 9.5 years of schooling) and inadequate literacy (literacy rate, 41%). In our study, patients with low literacy seemed ...References1. Sisk JE, Hebert PL, Horowitz CR, McLaughlin MA, Wang JJ, Chassin MR. Effects of nurse management on the quality of heart failure care in minority communities: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2006;145:273-83. [PMID: 16908918] LinkGoogle Scholar2. DeWalt DA, Malone RM, Bryant ME, Kosnar MC, Corr KE, Rothman RL, et al. A heart failure self-management program for patients of all literacy levels: a randomized, controlled trial [ISRCTN11535170]. BMC Health Serv Res. 2006;6:30. [PMID: 16533388] CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Michael P. Pignone, MD, MPH; Darren A. DeWalt, MD, MPHAffiliations: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina.Potential Financial Conflicts of Interest: Consultancies: Pfizer Inc.; Honoraria: Pfizer Inc.; Grants received: Pfizer Inc. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoEffects of Nurse Management on the Quality of Heart Failure Care in Minority Communities Jane E. Sisk , Paul L. Hebert , Carol R. Horowitz , Mary Ann McLaughlin , Jason J. Wang , and Mark R. Chassin Health Literacy and Heart Failure Care in Minority Communities Paul L. Hebert and Jane E. Sisk Metrics Cited byImproving Health Literacy: Use of an Informational Brochure Improves Parents’ Understanding of Their Child's Fluoroscopic ExaminationHeeding Our Words: Complexities of Research Among Low-Literacy Populations 20 February 2007Volume 146, Issue 4 Page: 312 Keywords Academic medicine Conflicts of interest Heart failure Hospitalizations Literacy ePublished: 20 February 2007 Issue Published: 20 February 2007 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2007 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...