LITERACY LEVELS OF OPHTHALMIC PATIENT EDUCATION MATERIALS

Health care providers have become increasingly aware of poor patient u nderstanding of their illnesses and their treatments. A major, increas ingly recognized factor in poor understanding and compliance is the lo w literacy skills of 90 million Americans. This article reviews the li terature on tile relationship between patients' literacy skills and th e literacy levels required to read educational health care materials, and applies a similar analysis to commonly used ophthalmic patient-edu cational materials. Understanding the relationships between patient li teracy skills and health care utilization will be critical in improvin g thee efficiency) of the health care system. (C) 1997 by Elsevier Sci ence Inc. All rights reserved.