Relationship between health literacy and patients' experiences of physician-patient communication in South Korea

Background: Though health illiteracy is prevalent globally, some countries are more disproportionately affected than others; South Korea has reported health illiteracy rates from 43% to 76%. Importantly, effective physician-patient communication has been shown to reduce the impact of low literacy. The goal of this study was to understand how health literacy relates to patients’ perceptions of physician communication in South Korea. 

Method: One hundred and fifty two patients were recruited at a family medicine clinic at Pusan National University Hospital. After giving written consent, patients completed a brief questionnaire assessing demographic information, the Newest Vital Sign (a measure of health literacy), and the Interpersonal Processes of Care Survey (IPC, a measure of patients’ ratings of the quality of physician communication).  

Results: Correlation analyses identified significant relationships between health literacy and age (r = -0.52, p < 0.001), level of education (r_s = 0.38, p < 0.001) and the hurried communication subscale of the IPC (r = -0.20, p < 0.05).  A subsequent linear regression analysis found that health literacy significantly predicted hurried communication scores (F(1, 150) = 6.33, p <0.05), with higher health literacy predicting poorer ratings of physician communication.

Conclusion: Current literature emphasizes the need for physicians to focus on tailoring communication for low literate patients. Our results show that patients with adequate health literacy skills may have different expectations and communication preferences when interacting with their physician. Additional research examining the role of cultural norms in physician-patient communication is recommended.