Nos últimos anos, diferentes estudos têm demonstrado que um nível inadequado de literacia em saúde pode ter implicac¸ões significativas nos resultados em saúde, na utilizac¸ão dos servic¸os de saúde e, consequentemente, nos gastos em saúde. O conceito de literacia em saúde evoluiu de uma definic¸ão meramente cognitiva para uma definic¸ão que engloba as componentes pessoal e social do indivíduo, assumindo-se como a capacidade de tomar decisões fundamentadas no seu dia-a-dia. O presente estudo transversal analítico teve como objetivo traduzir e validar para a populac¸ão portuguesa o European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU). O HLS-EU-PT foi aplicado em todo o território nacional, incluindo as regiões autónomas, através de investigadores de uma rede académica. A recolha de dados foi realizada por entrevista presencial. A amostra final ficou constituída por 1.004 indivíduos com idades ≥ 16 anos. Este estudo disponibilizou o instrumento de avaliac¸ão do nível de literacia para a saúde em Portugal, tão importante na gestão da saúde. O HLS-EU-PT apresenta-se como um instrumento adequado para aferir o nível de literacia em saúde da populac¸ão portuguesa e evidencia propriedades psicométricas comparáveis às versões utilizadas nos outros países. Em Portugal, 61% da populac¸ão inquirida apresenta um nível de literacia geral em saúde problemático ou inadequado, situando-se a média dos 9 países em 49,2%. Relativamente à dimensão cuidados de saúde, apenas 44,2% apresenta um nível suficiente ou excelente de literacia em saúde. No que respeita à prevenc¸ão da doenc¸a, cerca de 45% dos inquiridos revela ter um nível suficiente ou excelente de literacia em saúde, comparativamente com a média dos 9 países, que nesta dimensão apresenta o valor de 54,5%. Na dimensão promoc¸ão da saúde, 60,2% da populac¸ão auscultada apresenta um nível de literacia em saúde problemático ou inadequado, sendo que a média se situa nos 52,1%. Assim, considera-se fundamental e urgente a conceção e implementação de uma estratégia nacional de literacia em saúde.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

To investigate the relationship between ISO 9001 certification, healthcare accreditation and quality management in European hospitals. A mixed method multi-level cross-sectional design in seven countries. External teams assessed clinical services on the use of quality management systems, illustrated by four clinical pathways. Seventy-three acute care hospitals with a total of 291 services managing acute myocardial infarction (AMI), hip fracture, stroke and obstetric deliveries, in Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey. Four composite measures of quality and safety [specialized expertise and responsibility (SER), evidence-based organization of pathways (EBOP), patient safety strategies (PSS) and clinical review (CR)] applied to four pathways. Accreditation in isolation showed benefits in AMI and stroke more than in deliveries and hip fracture; the greatest significant association was with CR in stroke. Certification in isolation showed little benefit in AMI but had more positive association with the other conditions; greatest significant association was in PSS with stroke. The combination of accreditation and certification showed least benefit in EBOP, but significant benefits in SER (AMI), in PSS (AMI, hip fracture and stroke) and in CR (AMI and stroke). Accreditation and certification are positively associated with clinical leadership, systems for patient safety and clinical review, but not with clinical practice. Both systems promote structures and processes, which support patient safety and clinical organization but have limited effect on the delivery of evidence-based patient care. Further analysis of DUQuE data will explore the association of certification and accreditation with clinical outcomes.

This paper provides an overview of the DUQuE (Deepening our Understanding of Quality Improvement in Europe) project, the first study across multiple countries of the European Union (EU) to assess relationships between quality management and patient outcomes at EU level. The paper describes the conceptual framework and methods applied, highlighting the novel features of this study. DUQuE was designed as a multi-level cross-sectional study with data collection at hospital, pathway, professional and patient level in eight countries. We aimed to collect data for the assessment of hospital-wide constructs from up to 30 randomly selected hospitals in each country, and additional data at pathway and patient level in 12 of these 30. A comprehensive conceptual framework was developed to account for the multiple levels that influence hospital performance and patient outcomes. We assessed hospital-specific constructs (organizational culture and professional involvement), clinical pathway constructs (the organization of care processes for acute myocardial infarction, stroke, hip fracture and deliveries), patient-specific processes and outcomes (clinical effectiveness, patient safety and patient experience) and external constructs that could modify hospital quality (external assessment and perceived external pressure). Data was gathered from 188 hospitals in 7 participating countries. The overall participation and response rate were between 75% and 100% for the assessed measures. This is the first study assessing relation between quality management and patient outcomes at EU level. The study involved a large number of respondents and achieved high response rates. This work will serve to develop guidance in how to assess quality management and makes recommendations on the best ways to improve quality in healthcare for hospital stakeholders, payers, researchers, and policy makers throughout the EU.

Purpose: – Quantitative instruments to assess patient safety culture have been developed recently and a few review articles have been published. Measuring safety culture enables healthcare managers and staff to improve safety behaviours and outcomes for patients and staff. The study aims to determine the AHRQ Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture (HSPSC) Portuguese version's validity and reliability. Design/methodology/approach: – A missing-value analysis and item analysis was performed to identify problematic items. Reliability analysis, inter-item correlations and inter-scale correlations were done to check internal consistency, composite scores. Inter-correlations were examined to assess construct validity. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed to investigate the observed data's fit to the dimensional structure proposed in the AHRQ HSPSC Portuguese version. To analyse differences between hospitals concerning composites scores, an ANOVA analysis and multiple comparisons were done. Findings: – Eight of 12 dimensions had Cronbach's alphas higher than 0.7. The instrument as a whole achieved a high Cronbach's alpha (0.91). Inter-correlations showed that there is no dimension with redundant items, however dimension 10 increased its internal consistency when one item is removed. Originality/value: – This study is the first to evaluate an American patient safety culture survey using Portuguese data. The survey has satisfactory reliability and construct validity.

Health literacy refers to the competencies of individuals and the general population to navigate all the areas of health care, making health decisions. Health professionals need a set of skills and information to adapt to people’s health literacy. To succeed, it is crucial to determine the health literacy level of a population, in this case, the Portuguese. This study aims to measure the psychometric properties of the Portuguese version of HLS-EU-Q16 and HLS-EU-Q6 from the long form of HLS-EU-Q47, already validated for Portugal. To analyse these results, a comparison was made with the HLS-EU-PT index. Spearman correlation analysis was performed between the single items and scale scores. Cronbach’s alphas for all the indexes were calculated. For the statistical analysis, SPSS (version 28.0) was used. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for HLS-EU-PT-Q16 internal consistency was 0.89 overall, and for HLS-EU-PT-Q6 was 0.78 overall. Indexes were not normally distributed, and the Spearman correlation was computed. The correlation between G HL47 and G HL16 indexes was ρ = 0.95 (p < 0.001), and between G HL6 and HLS-EU-PT-Q6 was perfect. The HLS-EU-PT-Q16 and HLS-EU-PT-Q6 are concise and present adequate psychometric properties to measure the HL level of the Portuguese population. However, more similarities are found between the 47-item and the 16-item forms.

The objective of this study was to describe the involvement of patients or their representatives in quality management (QM) functions and to assess associations between levels of involvement and the implementation of patient-centred care strategies. A cross-sectional, multilevel study design that surveyed quality managers and department heads and data from an organizational audit. Randomly selected hospitals (n = 74) from seven European countries (The Czech Republic, France, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Turkey). Hospital quality managers (n = 74) and heads of clinical departments (n = 262) in charge of four patient pathways (acute myocardial infarction, stroke, hip fracture and deliveries) participated in the data collection between May 2011 and February 2012. Four items reflecting essential patient-centred care strategies based on an on-site hospital visit: (1) formal survey seeking views of patients and carers, (2) written policies on patients' rights, (3) patient information literature including guidelines and (4) fact sheets for post-discharge care. The main predictors were patient involvement in QM at the (i) hospital level and (ii) pathway level. Current levels of involving patients and their representatives in QM functions in European hospitals are low at hospital level (mean score 1.6 on a scale of 0 to 5, SD 0.7), but even lower at departmental level (mean 0.6, SD 0.7). We did not detect associations between levels of involving patients and their representatives in QM functions and the implementation of patient-centred care strategies; however, the smallest hospitals were more likely to have implemented patient-centred care strategies. There is insufficient evidence that involving patients and their representatives in QM leads to establishing or implementing strategies and procedures that facilitate patient-centred care; however, lack of evidence should not be interpreted as evidence of no effect.