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The importance of health literacy on clinical cancer outcomes: a scoping review

Health literacy (HL) refers to an individual’s ability to access, understand, appraise, and apply health related information (1). According to conservative estimates of the prevalence of low HL in Canada, only less than 12% of people aged 65 and older will not experience HL impairments throughout their lives and this challenge is widely felt across the globe (2,3). Health systems can be complicated to understand, leaving even highly educated individuals vulnerable when navigating their care (2). In an era of increasingly complex advances in oncology, even the small number of patients with high HL will struggle to understand and act on information about their diagnosis and treatments, leading to higher mortality and morbidity among this population (4). Given that cancer patients also experience immense emotional and psychological distress, further impairing their ability to retain and utilize health information, the challenge of low HL in the context of cancer care is significant and deserves immediate attention (5). In past decades increased attention has been paid to HL as a factor influencing health behaviors and the use Review Article