#83 - HEALTH LITERACY AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS IN PATIENTS WITH CIRRHOSIS IN LATIN AMERICA: THE PHAROS STUDY

Résumé fourni par la source

Introduction and Objectives Limited health literacy in cirrhosis is associated with worse outcomes, yet data from Latin America remain scarce. The PHAROS study aimed to identify factors associated with adequate health literacy and describe cirrhosis-related knowledge in this population. Materials and Methods Multicentre cross-sectional study across seven hepatology outpatient centres in four Latin American countries. Health literacy was assessed using the SAHL-S (score >15 defined adequate health literacy). Cirrhosis-related knowledge was evaluated with a 36-item true-or-false questionnaire (Stelmach et al., 2021), translated into Spanish, covering signs and symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, and medication. Multivariable backward stepwise logistic regression identified factors associated with adequate health literacy. Three sensitivity analyses were performed by sequentially excluding each country or group of countries Results Of 461 patients included (56% women; mean age 63.2±11.5 years), 62% had adequate health literacy. On multivariable analysis, three factors were independently associated with adequate health literacy (Table 1). Educational level was the only predictor retained across all sensitivity analyses; ALD aetiology remained significant in three of four models, and Child-Pugh in two. The loss of significance of ALD aetiology and Child-Pugh when Bolivia was excluded warrants further investigation. Median overall cirrhosis-related knowledge was 61.1% correct responses (Figure 1). Conclusions In this first multicentre Latin American study, 62% of patients with cirrhosis had adequate health literacy, with educational level as the most consistent independent predictor. Significant knowledge gaps were identified, particularly in signs and symptoms. Tailored health literacy interventions are needed in this population.

Ce résumé expose les affirmations des auteurs. BNTIC ne l’interprète pas comme une validation indépendante des résultats.