1 in 3 Middle-Aged Americans Struggle With Basic Health Tasks, Study Finds

A study by researchers at Northwestern University found that 32.5% of US adults aged 35 to 64 have limited health literacy, meaning they cannot reliably understand prescription directions, complete medical forms or remember information from a doctor's visit after being diagnosed with a new chronic condition. The findings were published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

The study involved 1,000 adults receiving care through Northwestern-affiliated hospitals and federally qualified health centers in Chicago, who had seen a doctor in the past year or had an appointment scheduled within six months. Participants completed tasks such as reading prescription labels for warnings about food, alcohol or sun exposure, and recalling instructions after watching a video in which a doctor diagnosed them with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD, a condition in which stomach acid frequently flows back into the esophagus).

Lower health literacy was associated with lower income, less education and unemployment. People with weaker health literacy skills also had more chronic conditions, were prescribed more medications, and scored lower on cognitive testing, the researchers found.

The researchers said many patient materials are currently written at a high school or college reading level, and recommend using plain language at a sixth- to eighth-grade level. Separate research cited in the study found that about two-thirds of US adults aged 45 to 64 manage at least one chronic condition, and a third manage multiple.