Numeracy, Health Literacy, Cognitive Impairment and 30-day Readmissions among Patients with Heart Failure: The Vanderbilt Inpatient Cohort Study (VICS)

Primary Investigator: 
Dr. Madeline R. Sterling
Research Contact Email: 
mrs9012@med.cornell.edu
Research Contact Phone: 
(201) 960-4700

While the role of health numeracy has been investigated in other chronic diseases, little research has examined numeracy in the context of heart failure (HF) outcomes. This is the first study to examine the effect of numeracy, alongside other socio-cognitive factors, on 30-day readmission risk among patients hospitalized with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF).  This is a prospective, longitudinal study of eight hundred and eighty-three adults hospitalized with ADHF at Vanderbilt University Hospital from October 2011 through October 2015.  Among them, 36% had low numeracy, 24% were of inadequate/marginal health literacy and 32% were cognitively impaired.  In both unadjusted and adjusted models, numeracy was not associated with unplanned healthcare utilization.  Low health literacy, although associated with 30-day readmission in unadjusted analyses, was not associated with increased risk of readmission in adjusted models. Finally, the risk of readmission did not differ by the presence of cognitive impairment.

Primary Care Innovation 420 East 70th Street, LH340 New York, NY 10021 Phone: (646) 962-5900