• Marwa Elbashir, Maguy Saffouh ElHajj, Daniel Rainkie, Nadir Kheir, Fatima Hamou, Sara Abdulrhim, Ahmed Mahfouz, Sumaya Alyafei, and Ahmed Awaisu.
• Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Practice, College of Pharmacy, QU Health, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
• Patient Prefer Adher. 2023 Jan 1; 17: 8910589-105.

PurposeTo determine the prevalence of inadequate health literacy and its associated risk factors among patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and/or heart failure (HF) in Qatar.Patients And MethodsThis cross-sectional observational study was conducted among patients with ACS and/or HF attending the national Heart Hospital in Qatar. Health literacy was assessed using the abbreviated version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (S-TOFHLA) and the Three-item Brief Health Literacy Screen (3-item BHLS).ResultsThree hundred patients with ACS and/or HF, majority male (88%) and non-Qatari (94%), participated in the study. The median (IQR) age of the participants was 55 (11) years. The prevalence of inadequate to marginal health literacy ranged between 36% and 54%. There were statistically significant differences in health literacy level between patients based on their marital status (p=0.010), education (p≤0.001), ability to speak any of Arabic, English, Hindi, Urdu, Malayalam, or other languages (p-values ≤0.001 to 0.035), country of origin (p≤0.001), occupation (p≤0.001), and receiving information from a pharmacist (p=0.008), a physiotherapist (p≤0.001), or a nurse (p=0.004).ConclusionInadequate health literacy is common among patients with ACS and/or HF. This study suggests a need for developing strategies to assist healthcare professionals in improving health literacy skills among patients with ACS and HF. A combination of interventions may be needed to improve patients' understanding of their disease and medications, and ultimately overall health outcomes.© 2023 Elbashir et al.

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