Supplemental Digital Content: Health literacy questions from the HRS 1
Question sections are preceded by the years the surveys included those sections. Possible 2
answers to each question are included in parentheses.
3 4 5
2009a & b, 2010, 2011, 2013 6
How confident are you filling out medical forms by yourself?
7
(Extremely, Quite a bit, Somewhat, A little bit, Not at all, Don’t know) 8
9
2009a & b, 2010 10
The following are directions you or someone else might be given at the hospital. Please read 11
each set of directions, then answer some questions about what it means.
12 13
“Take one tablet by mouth four times a day.”
14
If you take your first tablet at 7:00 a.m., when should you take the next one?
15
(Hours 1:00-12:00, Don’t know) 16
(a.m., p.m., Don’t know) 17
18
“Normal blood sugar is 6-150.
19
Your blood sugar today is 160.”
20
If this was your score, would your blood sugar be normal today?
21
(Yes, No, Don’t know) 22
23
“Clinic: Diabetic 24
Location: 3rd Floor 25
Day: Thurs.
26
Date: April 2nd 27
Hour: 10:20 28
Issued By: Dr. Smith 29
YOU MUST BRING YOUR PLASTIC CARD WITH YOU”
30
When is your next appointment?
31
(Months January-December) 32
(Days 1-31) 33
34
“Take medication on empty stomach one hour before or two to three hours after a meal u nless 35
otherwise directed by your doctor.”
36
If you eat lunch at 12:00 noon, and you want to take this medicine before lunch, what time 37
should you take it?
38
(Hours 1:00-12:00) 39
(a.m., p.m., Don’t know) 40
41
2009a 42
The following are some other medical instructions that you or anybody might see around the 43
hospital. These instructions are in sentences that have some of the words missing. Where a 44
word is missing, a blank line is drawn, and 4 possible words that could go in the blank appear 45
just below it. Please figure out which of those 4 words should go in the blank, which word 46
makes the sentence make sense.
47 48
Please read the sentence, then choose the best word for the blank, below.
49
Your doctor has sent you to have a ____________ X-ray.
50
(stomach, diabetes, stitches, germs) 51
52
Please read the sentence, then choose the best word for each blank, below.
53
You must have an __________ stomach when you come for _________.
54 55
The following word possibilities were given for the first blank:
56
(asthma, empty, incest, anemia) 57
58
The following word possibilities were given for the second blank:
59
(is, am, if, it) 60
61
Please read the sentence, then choose the best word for each blank, below.
62
The X-ray will _________ from 1 to 3 _______ to do.
63 64
The following word possibilities were given for the first blank:
65
(take, view, talk, look) 66
67
The following word possibilities were given for the second blank:
68
(beds, brains, hours, diets) 69
70
Please read the sentence, then choose the best word for each blank, below.
71
The day before the X-ray:
72
For supper have only a ________ snack of fruit, _______ and jelly, with coffee 73
or tea.
74 75
The following word possibilities were given for the first blank:
76
(little, broth, attack, nausea) 77
78
The following word possibilities were given for the second blank:
79
(toes, throat, toast, thigh) 80
81
2010 82
Please take a moment to look at the words on this card and then read them back to me. Some 83
of them may be hard to read; just do the best you can.
84 Fat 85
Flu 86
Pill 87
Osteoporosis 88
Allergic 89
Jaundice 90
Anemia 91
Fatigue 92
Directed 93
Colitis 94
Constipation 95
