Low health literacy can hinder which of the following?

• A. Accessing care
• B. Genetic testing accuracy
• C. Surgical outcomes
• D. None of the above

Answer: (A)

Understanding and using health information is essential to getting care. When health literacy is low, people often struggle with reading and understanding appointment reminders, forms, consent documents, instructions, and explanations about where to go and how to navigate the health system. This leads to barriers like missed appointments, difficulty arranging referrals, confusion about costs or insurance, and trouble following through with recommended care. All of these issues directly reduce access to care.

Genetic testing accuracy depends on laboratory processes, not on a patient’s ability to understand information. Low health literacy may affect how well someone understands what the test shows or what the results mean, but it doesn’t change the test’s technical accuracy. Surgical outcomes are influenced by many clinical factors and the patient’s adherence to instructions, which can be affected by literacy, but the primary hindrance described in the question is the patient’s ability to access care in the first place.