Health literacy and uptake of anti-fracture medications in a population-based sample of Australian women

Among 620 women, 134 (21.6%) had osteoporosis, 14 (10.5%) of whom self-reported current anti-fracture medication use. Small/moderate ES indicated women taking medication had lower HLQ scores in scales 'Navigating the healthcare system', 'Ability to find health information' and 'Understand health information' (ES 0.36 [0.25-0.79], 0.41 [0.29-0.87] and 0.64 [0.54-1.03], respectively). A trend was observed (p = 0.09) for 'Understand health information' scale scores and utilisation of medication. These data suggest women with less confidence in their ability to find and understand health information may follow healthcare provider recommendations and utilise anti-fracture medications more readily.