The meaning of numbers in health: exploring health numeracy in a Mexican-American population. J Gen Intern Med 2011 Jul;26(7):705-11
Date
02/22/2011Pubmed ID
21336671Pubmed Central ID
PMC3138587DOI
10.1007/s11606-011-1645-5Scopus ID
2-s2.0-80051544560 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 15 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND: Health numeracy can be defined as the ability to use numeric information in the context of health. The interpretation and application of numbers in health may vary across cultural groups.
OBJECTIVE: To explore the construct of health numeracy among persons who identify as Mexican American.
DESIGN: Qualitative focus group study. Groups were stratified by preferred language and level of education. Audio-recordings were transcribed and Spanish groups (n = 3) translated to English. An analysis was conducted using principles of grounded theory.
PARTICIPANTS: A purposeful sample of participants from clinical and community sites in the Milwaukee and Chicago metropolitan areas.
MAIN MEASURES: A theoretical framework of health numeracy was developed based upon categories and major themes that emerged from the analysis.
KEY RESULTS: Six focus groups were conducted with 50 participants. Initial agreement in coding was 59-67% with 100% reached after reconciliation by the coding team. Three major themes emerged: 1) numeracy skills are applied to a broad range of communication and decision making tasks in health, 2) affective and cognitive responses to numeric information influence use of numbers in the health setting, and 3) there exists a strong desire to understand the meaning behind numbers used in health. The findings informed a theoretical framework of health numeracy.
CONCLUSIONS: Numbers are important across a range of skills and applications in health in a sample of an urban Mexican-American population. This study expands previous work that strives to understand the application of numeric skills to medical decision making and health behaviors.
Author List
Schapira MM, Fletcher KE, Ganschow PS, Walker CM, Tyler B, Del Pozo S, Schauer C, Jacobs EAAuthor
Kathlyn E. Fletcher MD Professor in the Medicine department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAged
Aged, 80 and over
Chicago
Comprehension
Cross-Cultural Comparison
Decision Making
Female
Focus Groups
Health Education
Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice
Humans
Male
Mathematics
Mexican Americans
Middle Aged
Wisconsin
Young Adult
