The newest vital sign

Healthcare Financial Management, Feb, 2006

How well could patients at your system understand a nutritional label on a carton of ice cream?

A new test that asks patients to read an ice cream nutritional label, then answer six simple questions based on the information, is helping doctors adjust how they communicate medical advice.

Physicians at the University of Arizona and the University of North Carolina developed the test, which they've dubbed "The Newest Vital Sign: The test takes just three minutes to administer and can be taken while blood pressure or other vital signs are being measured.

Since even the best advice from the best physicians does no good if patients can't understand and follow it, those three minutes could be ones very well spent.

Health illiteracy is a big problem in the United States. Low health literacy can be a stronger predictor for poor health than age, income, educational level, and employment status. According to one study, patients with less than a third-grade reading level average $10,000 in Medicaid costs annually, while those with more schooling average just $3,000.

--Time.com