Assessing the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Health Literacy in Patients Presenting to a Student-Run Free Clinic

Background Health literacy as defined by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), refers to an individual’s ability to find, understand, and use health information and services1. This definition has evolved with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing emphasis on preventative healthcare. We aimed to observe the impact of the pandemic on the health literacy of patients in a free community clinic run by medical students. Hypothesis This study aims to assess the effect of various demographic and socioeconomic factors and the COVID-19 pandemic on health literacy levels estimated by the NVS assessment in the patient population served by RVCHC. Methods A total of 57 patients were enrolled: 33 during the pandemic and 24 post-pandemic. Basic demographic information was collected and health literacy was assessed using the Newest Vital Sign (NVS) Assessment--a 6 question screening test for literacy in a primary care setting2 .Data was analyzed for differences in health literacy based on pandemic status, gender, and college education. Results Preliminary data showed no significant differences were found between patients with limited literacy and adequate literacy based on presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, gender, or college education. Conclusions Data analysis showed no statistical significance or observable trends between pandemic and post-pandemic health literacy at the community clinic level. The pandemic introduced many hardships and challenges that we wanted to analyze to gain a greater understanding of its effects in our community. Some limitations to this study that can be addressed include the small sample size and incomplete patient-reported demographics.