{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,21]],"date-time":"2026-10-21T19:26:44Z","timestamp":1792610804247,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":38,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"5","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,5]],"date-time":"2020-03-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1583366400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Low health literacy is associated with poorer health and quality of life. An open question is whether a regional integrated healthcare system whose management strives to enable and empower its members with regard to health issues can contribute to a higher level of health literacy in the population. Against this background, in a cross-sectional study we surveyed a random selection of members of an integrated healthcare system in southwestern Germany (n = 180). The standardized questionnaire included, inter alia, questions on health literacy and subjective health. In this sample we wanted to (1) determine the proportion of respondents with sufficient health literacy and (2) investigate whether the association between health literacy and quality of life and subjective health status\u2014as found in other studies\u2014can be replicated. In our sample a health literacy score could be calculated in 126 subjects (70%). A sufficient level of health literacy was detected in 62% of respondents. Confirming the findings of a meta-analysis based on international studies, we found moderate correlations between health literacy and quality of life (r = 0.41) and health literacy and subjective health status (r = 0.40); these correlations hardly decreased when we controlled for various sociodemographic characteristics. As the proportion of respondents with sufficient health literacy was higher in our sample than in comparable studies conducted in Germany, we may hypothesize that an integrated healthcare system like the one we surveyed could have contributed to increased health literacy in the population. Thus, it could be worthwhile to investigate this research question with a more rigorous study design and a larger sample.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph17051683","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,6]],"date-time":"2020-03-06T07:33:46Z","timestamp":1583480026000},"page":"1683","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":52,"title":["The Relationship between Health Literacy, Quality of Life, and Subjective Health: Results of a Cross-Sectional Study in a Rural Region in Germany"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"17","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-5898-6066","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Anna T.","family":"Ehmann","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, University Hospital T\u00fcbingen, Wilhelmstra\u00dfe 27, 72074 T\u00fcbingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Oliver","family":"Groene","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"OptiMedis AG, Burchardstra\u00dfe 17, 20095 Hamburg, Germany"},{"name":"London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of London, London WC1E 7HT, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7855-3663","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Monika A.","family":"Rieger","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, University Hospital T\u00fcbingen, Wilhelmstra\u00dfe 27, 72074 T\u00fcbingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Achim","family":"Siegel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Occupational and Social Medicine and Health Services Research, University Hospital T\u00fcbingen, Wilhelmstra\u00dfe 27, 72074 T\u00fcbingen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2020,3,5]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"S\u00f8rensen, K., van den Broucke, S., Fullam, J., Doyle, G., Pelikan, J., Slonska, Z., and Brand, H. 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