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Table 2 Patient and practice characteristics

From: Does health literacy affect patients’ receipt of preventative primary care? A multilevel analysis

Variables (N = 739)

Categories

n

%

Patient demographics

Age (n = 732)

40-54 years

321

43.9

55-70 years

411

56.1

Sex (n = 734)

Female

509

69.3

Male

225

30.7

Place of birth (n = 733)

Australia

552

75.3

Outside Australia

181

24.7

Language (N = 731)

Speaks English at home

704

96.3

Speaks a language other than English at home

27

3.7

Education (n = 732)

No university degree

478

65.3

University degree

254

34.7

Employment (n = 725)

In labour force

474

65.4

Not in labour force

251

34.6

Owner of own accommodation (n = 734)

Yes

661

90.1

No

73

9.9

Patient risk factors

Sufficient Health Literacy (n = 726)^

Yes

375

51.7

No

351

48.3

Smoking risk (n = 734)^^

Yes

63

8.6

No

671

91.4

Diet risk (n = 724)*

Yes

582

80.4

No

142

19.6

Alcohol risk (n = 725)**

Yes

190

26.2

No

535

73.8

Physical activity risk (n = 728)#

Yes

404

55.5

No

324

44.5

Weight risk (n = 703)##

Yes

415

59.0

No

288

41.0

Practice characteristics

Practice size (n = 739)

Less than 5 GPs (17 practices)

403

54.5

5 or more GPs (13 practices)

336

45.5

Practice location (n = 739)

State capital cities (28 practices)

695

94.0

Inner regional (2 practices)

44

6.0

  1. ^A mean score of <4 in any of the eight average domain scores of HeLMS as having insufficient health literacy.
  2. ^^Current smokers as having risk.
  3. *Eating ≤6 serves of fruits and vegetables daily as having risk.
  4. **Drinking >2 standard drinks in a day as having risk.
  5. #A score of <4 in the sum of vigorous and moderate physical activity as having risk.
  6. ##A BMI of ≥25 as having weight risk.