Influence of Patient Literacy on the Effectiveness of a Primary Care–Based Diabetes Disease Management Program

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Abstract
Approximately 90 million Americans have literacy skills insufficient to function in today’s economy and health care settings.1-3 Patients with low literacy can have trouble reading prescriptions and following medical recommendations, poorer knowledge of their disease, and worse clinical outcomes.2,4-8 Low literacy is common among patients with diabetes and is associated with poor knowledge about diabetes.2,8-12 Although 1 recent cross-sectional study has found that low literacy is associated with poor glycemic control,11 other studies have not.8,13