April 4-6, 2024 • Hyatt Regency • Lexington, KY
Innovations in Health Communication
Innovations in Health Communication
Abstract: Racial Differences in Health Literacy Among Pregnant Women With Gestational Diabetes Mellitus
Background: Health literacy is a paramount consideration in health communication, especially during pregnancy. Communicating prevention and treatment options for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is critical, as risks of GDM include developing Type 2 diabetes later in life. Racial differences exist for pregnant women diagnosed with GDM, with Hispanic minorities showing higher rates of the disease compared to Whites, and higher rates of low health literacy among racial minorities. More research is needed to know specifically where health communication efforts can intervene to help prevent GDM among racial groups.
Objective: To examine the differences in health literacy by race among pregnant women with GDM and without GDM.
Method: This study is a secondary data analysis of the NIH data set, All of Us (https://allofus.nih.gov/). Pregnant women in that self-identified as Black (n = 2390; 18.6%), White (n = 5418; 42.3 %) and Hispanic (n = 5009; 39.1%) (total sample n = 12,817) ranged in age from 18-65+ (M = 32.51; SD = 6.02). Of these participants, 923 were diagnosed with GDM (12.5%, 57.9%, and 29.6% self-identified as Black, White and Hispanic, respectively). Four questions were selected to analyze for health literacy purposes: 1) How often do you have someone help you read health-related materials?; 2) How often do you have problems learning about your medical condition because of difficulty understanding written information?; 3) How often did your doctors or health care providers tell or give you information about your health and health care that was easy to understand?; and 4) How confident are you filling out medical forms by yourself? Reponses ranged from Always to Never, and Confident to Not at All Confident.
Results: Analyses using Mann Whitney U Tests and Goodman and Kruskal's γ were done to study differences between White, Black and Hispanic pregnant women with GDM (using a Bonferroni correction to control the study-wide error rate at 5%) and those without GDM. Results showed significant differences among Black pregnant women with and without GDM on two of the four questions. Specifically, significant differences emerged on the question of having someone help them read health-related material (W= 121422, p = 0.002) and difficulty understanding written information (W = 121316, p = .004). No other significant differences were found. Further analyses highlight White pregnant woman with GDM and less education had more difficulty understanding written information (γ = .52, p = .000). Trends also suggest that White pregnant women with GDM, and Hispanic pregnant women with GDM, with lower income, needed more help reading health-related materials (γ = -.26, p = .037; γ = -.20, p = .077, respectively).
Conclusion: Health communications scholars may need to develop specific interventions for pregnant women with GDM on helping them read and understand health information across many different ethnicities and races. For interventions focusing on GDM prevention and treatment, additional resources should be incorporated to help women act upon the health information to improve their pregnancy outcomes and overall health.
Objective: To examine the differences in health literacy by race among pregnant women with GDM and without GDM.
Method: This study is a secondary data analysis of the NIH data set, All of Us (https://allofus.nih.gov/). Pregnant women in that self-identified as Black (n = 2390; 18.6%), White (n = 5418; 42.3 %) and Hispanic (n = 5009; 39.1%) (total sample n = 12,817) ranged in age from 18-65+ (M = 32.51; SD = 6.02). Of these participants, 923 were diagnosed with GDM (12.5%, 57.9%, and 29.6% self-identified as Black, White and Hispanic, respectively). Four questions were selected to analyze for health literacy purposes: 1) How often do you have someone help you read health-related materials?; 2) How often do you have problems learning about your medical condition because of difficulty understanding written information?; 3) How often did your doctors or health care providers tell or give you information about your health and health care that was easy to understand?; and 4) How confident are you filling out medical forms by yourself? Reponses ranged from Always to Never, and Confident to Not at All Confident.
Results: Analyses using Mann Whitney U Tests and Goodman and Kruskal's γ were done to study differences between White, Black and Hispanic pregnant women with GDM (using a Bonferroni correction to control the study-wide error rate at 5%) and those without GDM. Results showed significant differences among Black pregnant women with and without GDM on two of the four questions. Specifically, significant differences emerged on the question of having someone help them read health-related material (W= 121422, p = 0.002) and difficulty understanding written information (W = 121316, p = .004). No other significant differences were found. Further analyses highlight White pregnant woman with GDM and less education had more difficulty understanding written information (γ = .52, p = .000). Trends also suggest that White pregnant women with GDM, and Hispanic pregnant women with GDM, with lower income, needed more help reading health-related materials (γ = -.26, p = .037; γ = -.20, p = .077, respectively).
Conclusion: Health communications scholars may need to develop specific interventions for pregnant women with GDM on helping them read and understand health information across many different ethnicities and races. For interventions focusing on GDM prevention and treatment, additional resources should be incorporated to help women act upon the health information to improve their pregnancy outcomes and overall health.