Table 2 Health Literacy Questionnaire with mean scores and difficulty levels for scales and items

Questions (Part 1)

Median

Mean (SD)

Strongly Disagree (%)

Disagree (%)

Agree (%)

Difficulty Level (%) (CI)

1. I have at least one healthcare provider … … .

2

2.39 (0.78)

12.7

41.1

40.1

6.1

53.8 (51.0–56.6)

2. I have at least one healthcare provider I can discuss … …

2

2.40 (0.74)

10.4

44.2

40.5

4.9

54.5 (51.7–57.3)

3. I have the healthcare providers I need … … .

2

2.46 (0.66)

6.3

44.1

46.3

3.3

50.4 (47.6–53.2)

4. I can rely on at least one healthcare provider

2

2.50 (0.73)

6.4

44.9

41.1

7.5

51.4 (48.6–54.2)

Average for Scale 1

2.44 (0.57)

52.5

1. I feel I have good information … … .

3

2.81 (0.55)

2.2

19.8

72.4

5.7

21.9 (19.7–24.4)

2. I have enough information to help me deal … .

3

2.59 (0.58)

3.3

36.0

59.0

1.7

39.3 (36.6–42.1)

3. I am sure I have all the information I need to manage … .

3

2.55 (0.59)

2.9

41.2

53.9

1.9

44.2 (41.4–46.9)

4. I have all the information I need to look after … .

3

2.52 (0.59)

3.5

42.1

53.1

1.4

45.5 (42.8–48.3)

Average for Scale 2

2.62 (0.41)

37.7

1. I spend quite a lot of time actively … .

3

2.62 (0.63)

4.7

32.1

59.8

3.4

36.8 (34.1–39.5)

2. I make plans for what I need to … .

3

2.63 (0.62)

4.3

31.6

60.9

3.2

35.9 (33.3–38.6)

3. Despite other things in my life, I make time … ..

3

2.64 (0.60)

3.6

32.0

61.5

2.9

35.6 (32.9–38.3)

4. I set my own goals about health … .

3

2.78 (0.60)

3.5

20.9

70.0

5.6

24.4 (22.1–26.9)

5. There are things that I do regularly to make … .

3

2.81 (0.52)

1.8

19.9

74.1

4.1

21.7 (19.5–24.1)

Average for Scale 3

2.69 (0.42)

30.9

1. I can get access to several people who … .

3

2.63 (0.62)

3.6

33.8

58.5

4.0

37.4 (34.8–40.2)

2. When I feel ill, the people around me … .

3

2.74 (0.64)

4.5

23.1

66.0

6.4

27.6 (25.2–30.2)

3. If I need help, I have plenty of people I … .

3

2.58 (0.66)

4.7

38.2

51.9

5.2

42.9 (40.1–45.6)

4. I have at least one person who can … .

3

2.70 (0.67)

4.4

29.2

58.8

7.6

33.5 (30.9–36.2)

5. I have strong support from my family … .

3

2.64 (0.66)

4.4

33.0

56.5

6.2

37.3 (34.7–40.1)

Average for Scale 4

2.66 (0.43)

35.7

1. I compare health information from diff … .

3

2.64 (0.58)

4.3

29.0

65.4

1.3

33.3 (30.7–35.9)

2. When I see new information about health, … .

3

2.46 (0.67)

8.5

38.0

52.2

1.3

46.5 (43.7–49.3)

3. I always compare health information from different sources

3

2.63 (0.58)

3.9

30.6

64.0

1.5

34.5 (31.9–37.2)

4. I know how to find out if the health information I receive … .

3

2.67 (0.59)

2.8

30.3

63.2

3.6

33.1 (30.6–35.8)

5. I ask healthcare providers about the quality … .

2

2.45 (0.65)

6.9

43.2

48.0

1.9

50.1 (47.2–52.9)

Average for Scale 5

2.57 (0.43)

39.5

Cannot do/always difficult %

Usually difficult%

Sometimes difficult %

Usually Easy %

Always Easy %

DL GH

1. Make sure that healthcare providers understand your …

4

3.87 (0.78)

0.6

6.2

15.6

60.4

17.2

22.4 (20.1–24.8)

2. Feel able to discuss your health concerns with …

4

3.30 (0.89)

2.5

18.6

28.4

47.4

3.1

49.5 (46.7–52.3)

3. Have good discussions about your health with doctors

4

3.30 (0.90)

2.8

18.0

28.8

47.1

3.3

49.5 (46.8–52.4)

4. Discuss things with healthcare providers until … .

4

3.28 (0.90)

3.4

18.5

26.6

49.4

2.1

48.5 (45.7–51.2)

5. Ask healthcare providers questions to get the …

4

3.37 (0.86)

2.3

14.7

30.1

49.0

3.8

47.2 (44.4–49.9)

Average for Scale 6

3.43 (0.64)

43.4

1. Find the right healthcare

4

3.30 (0.89)

2.9

17.8

27.8

49.3

2.2

48.5 (45.7–51.3)

2. Get to see the healthcare provider I need to

4

3.39 (0.89)

1.5

18.1

25.4

49.7

5.4

44.9 (42.1–47.7)

3. Decide which healthcare provider you need to see

3

3.18 (0.95)

4.0

23.8

23.6

46.7

1.9

51.4 (48.7–54.2)

4. Make sure you find the right place to get the health …

4

3.53 (0.77)

1.4

10.7

23.6

61.9

2.4

35.6 (33.0–38.4)

5. Find out what healthcare services you are entitled … .

3

3.28 (0.85)

2.3

17.6

31.1

47.2

1.7

51.0 (48.7–54.3)

6. Work out what is the best care for you

4

3.31 (0.86)

3.2

15.5

30.1

50.0

1.2

48.8 (45.9–51.5)

Average for Scale 7

3.33 (0.63)

46.7

1. Find information about health problems

4

3.50 (0.86)

1.9

11.0

30.1

49.3

7.7

43.0 (40.3–45.8)

2. Find health information from several different places

4

3.62 (0.73)

1.1

7.9

22.8

64.8

3.4

31.8 (29.2–34.4)

3. Get information about health so you are up to date

4

3.42 (0.75)

1.0

10.8

35.7

50.4

2.1

47.5 (44.7–50.3)

4. Get health information in words you …

4

3.84 (0.82)

2.8

3.6

15.5

63.5

14.7

21.8 (19.6–24.2)

5. Get information by yourself

3

2.77 (1.12)

18.4

21.1

26.6

33.0

0.9

66.1 (63.4–68.7)

Average for Scale 8

3.36 (0.58)

42.0

1. Confidently fill in medical forms in the … .

4

3.49 (1.01)

7.8

7.0

22.0

54.5

8.7

36.8(34.1–39.5)

2. Accurately follow the instructions from … .

4

3.89 (0.72)

–

3.9

20.4

58.4

17.3

24.3(21.9–26.8)

3. Read and understand written health … .

3

2.69 (1.17)

21.3

22.2

24.9

29.0

2.6

68.4(65.7–70.9)

4. Read and understand all the information on … .

3

2.78 (1.21)

21.6

18.1

24.5

32.0

3.7

64.3(61.5–66.9)

5. Understand what health providers … .

4

3.91 (0.73)

0.2

2.2

19.0

63.8

14.91

21.3(19.1–23.7)

Average for Scale 9

3.35 (0.60)

43.02