Knowledge of COVID-19 and Health Literacy Among Patients Seeking Care in an Emergency Department

Abstract BackgroundAs the US continues to experience a daily increase of COVID-19 cases, there is an urgent need to identify ways to improve individuals’ knowledge of COVID-19 to achieve effective prevention. To examine whether the knowledge of COVID-19 was associated with the general health literacy among patients in an emergency department, and to demonstrate whether patients’ primary source of COVID-19 information was associated with their COVID-19 knowledge.MethodsA sample of adults was collected in an urban ED. Patients’ knowledge of COVID-19 was measured by the agreement to 10 statements. Health literacy was measured by the Brief Health Literacy Screen (BHLS). Participants were also asked about their primary source of COVID-19 information, sociodemographics, comorbidities and familiarity with the healthcare system at baseline. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were conducted. ResultsThe average COVID-19 knowledge score was 7.09 (range 0-10) and BHLS score, 11.09 (range 3-15). About 43% obtained the information primarily from TVs, radios and newspapers, and 1/3 from social media and circles. The group with the primary source being internet searches and sites had the highest average COVID-19 knowledge score of 7.78. The BHLS and COVID-19 knowledge scores were positively correlated in both bivariate and multivariate analyses. Education and income levels were statistically significant in the multivariate regression.ConclusionsTo better prevent further increases in COVID-19 transmission, community-based interventions can be more cost-effective when targeting sociodemographic groups that have lower general health literacy. In particular, individuals of low educational and with low income levels should be prioritized.