Spine Surgeon Estimation of Patient Health Literacy

Lower health literacy is associated with worse patient outcomes, yet physicians tend to overestimate patients’ health literacy. To assess spine surgeons’ ability to accurately estimate patients’ health literacy, this study administered the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) to spine surgery patients and recorded 2 spine surgeons’ estimations of those patients’ health literacy levels. Spine surgeons’ estimates were in moderate agreement with patients’ NVS scores, and spine surgeons tended to overestimate patients’ health literacy. Surgeons’ estimates were more accurate for patients with the following characteristics: Adequate health literacy, White, age 60 and older, and male. These findings highlight the potential for routine NVS administration to promote health equity, quality, and safety in spine surgery.