Health Literacy Among Parents of Newborn Infants

Background: Health Literacy is the ability to obtain, process, and understand health information to make knowledgeable health decisions. Purpose: To determine baseline health literacy of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) parents at a tertiary care hospital during periods of crucial information exchange. Methods: Health literacy of English-speaking NICU parents was assessed using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) on admission (n = 121) and discharge (n = 59). A quasi-control group of well-baby nursery (WBN) parents (n = 24) and prenatal obstetric clinic (PRE) parents (n = 18) were included. A single, Likert-style question measured nurses' assessment of parental comprehension with discharge teaching. Suspected limited health literacy (SLHL) was defined as the NVS score of 3 or less. Findings/Results: Forty-three percent of parents on NICU admission and 32% at NICU discharge had SLHL (P < .01). SLHL for WBN and PRE parents was 25% and 58%, respectively. Parental age, gender, location, and history of healthcare-related employment were not associated with health literacy status at any time point. Thirty-nine percent of NICU parents and 25% of WBN parents with SLHL at time of admission/infant birth had a college education. Nurse subjective measurement of parental comprehension of discharge instructions was not correlated to the objective measurement of health literacy (P = .26). Implications for Practice: SLHL is common during peak time periods of complex health discussion in the NICU, WBN, and PRE settings. NICU providers may not accurately gauge parents' literacy status. Implications for Research: Methods for improving health communication are needed. Studies should evaluate SLHL in a larger NICU population and across different languages and cultures.