Health Literacy Among Patients Evaluated for Drug Hypersensitivity in a Tertiary Allergy Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study.
- 1Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University, 06800 Ankara, Türkiye.
- 2Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Ankara Bilkent City Hospital, 06800 Ankara, Türkiye.
- 3Department of Allergy and Clinical Immunology, Faculty of Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University, 35340 Izmir, Türkiye.
Abstract
Background and Objectives: Health literacy (HL) is an important determinant of health outcomes, but its assessment in patients with drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate HL levels and identify their sociodemographic determinants among patients with DHRs. Materials and Methods: In this single-center, prospective, cross-sectional study, 155 adult patients with a clinical history strongly suggestive of, or diagnostically confirmed, DHR were enrolled at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital (October-December 2025). HL was assessed using the validated Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32). The associations between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and HL categories were analyzed using the chi-square test. Variables with p < 0.20 in univariable logistic regression were considered for inclusion in a multivariable binary logistic regression model to identify factors independently associated with inadequate or problematic/limited HL. Results: The median total THLS-32 score was 32.81 (range: 17.71-50), and 52.9% of patients had inadequate or problematic/limited HL, with the evaluating-information subdimension most affected. In multivariable analysis, higher educational level was associated with lower odds of inadequate or problematic/limited HL (high school: adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09-0.79; university: adjusted OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.05-0.43), whereas DHR grade 2-3 was associated with higher odds (adjusted OR 4.61, 95% CI 2.06-10.28). The association with age ≥ 35 years did not reach statistical significance after adjustment (p = 0.051). Conclusions: Inadequate or problematic/limited HL is common among patients with DHRs, particularly when it comes to appraising health information. It is also independently associated with lower educational attainment and more severe reactions. Assessing HL could be integrated into routine evaluations of these patients to support personalized education and safe drug avoidance. However, given the single-center, cross-sectional design of this study, multicenter longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these associations and evaluate whether HL-targeted interventions improve allergy-related outcomes.
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BibTeX
@article{akin2026health,
title = {{Health Literacy Among Patients Evaluated for Drug Hypersensitivity in a Tertiary Allergy Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study.}},
author = {Begum Gorgulu Akin and Makbule Seda Bayrak Durmaz and Fikriye Kalkan and Sadan Soyyigit},
journal = {Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.3390/medicina62102024},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42942555},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Health Literacy Among Patients Evaluated for Drug Hypersensitivity in a Tertiary Allergy Clinic: A Cross-Sectional Study.
AU - Begum Gorgulu Akin
AU - Makbule Seda Bayrak Durmaz
AU - Fikriye Kalkan
AU - Sadan Soyyigit
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/19
JO - Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania)
DO - 10.3390/medicina62102024
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42942555
AB - Background and Objectives: Health literacy (HL) is an important determinant of health outcomes, but its assessment in patients with drug hypersensitivity reactions (DHRs) remains largely unexplored. This study aimed to evaluate HL levels and identify their sociodemographic determinants among patients with DHRs. Materials and Methods: In this single-center, prospective, cross-sectional study, 155 adult patients with a clinical history strongly suggestive of, or diagnostically confirmed, DHR were enrolled at Ankara Bilkent City Hospital (October-December 2025). HL was assessed using the validated Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32). The associations between sociodemographic and clinical characteristics and HL categories were analyzed using the chi-square test. Variables with p < 0.20 in univariable logistic regression were considered for inclusion in a multivariable binary logistic regression model to identify factors independently associated with inadequate or problematic/limited HL. Results: The median total THLS-32 score was 32.81 (range: 17.71-50), and 52.9% of patients had inadequate or problematic/limited HL, with the evaluating-information subdimension most affected. In multivariable analysis, higher educational level was associated with lower odds of inadequate or problematic/limited HL (high school: adjusted odds ratio (OR) 0.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.09-0.79; university: adjusted OR 0.15, 95% CI 0.05-0.43), whereas DHR grade 2-3 was associated with higher odds (adjusted OR 4.61, 95% CI 2.06-10.28). The association with age ≥ 35 years did not reach statistical significance after adjustment (p = 0.051). Conclusions: Inadequate or problematic/limited HL is common among patients with DHRs, particularly when it comes to appraising health information. It is also independently associated with lower educational attainment and more severe reactions. Assessing HL could be integrated into routine evaluations of these patients to support personalized education and safe drug avoidance. However, given the single-center, cross-sectional design of this study, multicenter longitudinal studies are needed to confirm these associations and evaluate whether HL-targeted interventions improve allergy-related outcomes.
SN - 1010-660X
SN - 1648-9144
ER -