National HLS₁₉ reports

• Befolkningens helsekompetanse, del I (HLS₁₉ national report I in Norway – Health literacy in the Norwegian population)
• Helsekompetansen i fem utvalgte innvandrerpopulasjoner i Norge: Pakistan, Polen, Somalia, Tyrkia og Vietnam (HLS₁₉ national report II in Norway – Health literacy in five immigrant populations in Norway)
• English Summary of HLS₁₉ national report I in Norway – Health literacy in the Norwegian population
• English Summary of HLS₁₉ national report II in Norway – Health literacy in five immigrant populations in Norway

Journal publications

Le, C.; Soberg Finbraten, H.; Griebler, R.; Levin-Zamir, D.; Guttersrud, O. (2025): Ability to Utilize Digital Health Services: Validation of the Digital HealthCare Scale in Adolescents and Young Adults. In: Health Lit Res Pract 9/1:e19-e28. https://doi.org/10.3928/24748307-20241204-01 

Le, Christopher; Guttersrud, Øystein; Levin-Zamir, Diane; Griebler, Robert; Finbråten, Hanne Søberg (2024): Associations between digital health literacy and health system navigating abilities among Norwegian adolescents: validating the HLS19-DIGI scale using Rasch modeling. In: BMC Public Health 24/1:1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-024-19405-w

PhD Dissertation in Health and Welfare

Le, Christopher (2025): Digital- and health literacy in young people aged 16-25: A secondary analysis of HLS19 data collected in Norway. University of Inland Norway. Elverum 

Journal publications 

Cadeddu, C., Regazzi, L., Bonaccorsi, G., Rosano, A., Unim, B., Griebler, R., Link, T., De Castro, P., D’Elia, R., Mastrilli, V., Palmieri, L. (2022) The Determinants of Vaccine Literacy in the Italian Population: Results from the Health Literacy Survey 2019. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 19, 4429. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/8/4429 

Rosano, A., Lorini, C., Unim, B., Griebler, R., Cadeddu, C.,Regazzi, L., Galeone, D., Palmieri, L. (2022). Coronavirus-Related Health Literacy: A Cross-Sectional Study during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 3807. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19073807

National HLS₁₉ reports

• Gesundheitskompetenz der Bevölkerung in Deutschland – Vergleich der Erhebungen 2014 und 2020 (HLS₁₉ National Report on findings in Germany (HLS-GER 1)) 
• English Summary of HLS₁₉ National Report on findings in Germany (HLS-GER 1) 
• Gesundheitskompetenz der Bevölkerung in Deutschland – vor und während der Corona Pandemie: Ergebnisse des HLS-GER 2 (HLS₁₉ National Report on findings in Germany (HLS-GER 2)) 
• English Summary of HLS₁₉ National Report on findings in Germany (HLS-GER 2)
• Gesundheitskompetenz von Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland: Ergebnisse des HLS-MIG (Health Literacy of People with Migration Background in Germany: Results of the HLS-MIG)
• Health Literacy of People with Migration Background in Germany: Results of the HLS-MIG (Short English Summary)

Journal publications

Griese, Lennert; Schaeffer, Doris (2025): Health literacy and chronic disease: a comparison of somatic and mental illness. Frontiers in public health 13. https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2025.1523723/full#ref17

Schaeffer D., Griese L., Klinger J. (2023) Navigationale Gesundheitskompetenz der Bevölkerung in Deutschland (Navigational health literacy of the population in Germany). Das Gesundheitswesen.

Schaeffer D., Gille S.,  Berens E.-M., Griese L., Klinger J., Vogt D.,  Hurrelmann K. (2023) Digitale Gesundheitskompetenz der Bevölkerung in Deutschland: Ergebnisse des HLS-GER 2 (Digital Health Literacy of the Population in Germany: Results of the HLS-GER 2). Gesundheitswesen 2023; 85(04): 323-331. DOI: 10.1055/a-1670-7636

Klinger, J., Berens, E.-M., Schaeffer, D. (2023). Health literacy and the role of social support in different age groups: results of a German cross-sectional survey. BMC Public Health; 23, 2259. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-17145-x 

Klinger J., Berens E.-M., Carol S., Schaeffer D. (2023). Gesundheitskompetenz von Personen mit ex-sowjetischem und türkischem Migrationshintergrund in Deutschland (Health Literacy of People with Former Soviet Union and Turkish Migration Background in Germany). Gesundheitswesen. DOI: 10.1055/a-2035-9107

Berens, E.-M., Klinger, J., Carol, S., Schaeffer, D. (2022) Differences in health literacy domains among migrants and their descendants in Germany. Frontiers in public health, 10, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2022.988782.

Gille, S., Griese, L., & Schaeffer, D. (2021). Preferences and Experiences of People with Chronic Illness in Using Different Sources of Health Information: Results of a Mixed-Methods Study. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(24), 13185.

Griese, L., Schaeffer, D. and Berens, E.-M. (2022): Navigational health literacy among people with chronic illness. Chronic Illness 1-12. DOI: 10.1177/17423953211073368

Schaeffer, D., Berens, E.-M., Vogt, D., Gille, S., Griese, L., Klinger, J., & Hurrelmann, K. (2021). Health Literacy in Germany: Findings of a Representative Follow-up Survey. Deutsches Arzteblatt international, 118(43), 723.

Griese, L., Berens, E-M., Nowak, P. Pelikan, J.M. and Schaeffer, D. (2020). Challenges in Navigating the Health Care System: Development of an Instrument Measuring Navigation Health Literacy. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17 (16). doi 10.3390/ijerph17165731.

Schaeffer D., Klinger J., Berens E., Gille S., Griese L., Vogt D. and Hurrelmann K. (2021). Gesundheitskompetenz in Deutschland vor und während der Corona-Pandemie (Health Literacy in Germany before and during the COVID-19 
Pandemic). Thieme Verlag: Stuttgart.

National HLS₁₉ reports​

• Gesundheitskompetenz in Österreich: Ergebnisse der österreichischen Gesundheitskompetenzerhebung HLS₁₉-AT. (HLS₁₉ National Report on findings in Austria (HLS₁₉-AT)) 

Health Literacy Factsheets

• Factsheet: Health Literacy Survey (HLS19) (in German)
• Navigational Health Literacy (in German) 
• Digital Health Literacy (in German)
• Communicative Health Literacy (in German)
• Vaccination Health Literacy (in German)

Journal Publications

Griebler, R.; Link, T.; Schutze, D.; Straßmayr, C. (2025): Gesundheitskompetenz messen: Methoden und Instrumente zur Erfassung der allgemeinen Gesundheitskompetenz bei Erwachsenen [Measuring health literacy: methods and tools for assessing general health literacy in adults]. In: Bundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00103-025-04010-y 
 

Factsheets with scoring based on polytomous items

• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-Q12 Instrument to measure General Health Literacy
• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-NAV Instrument to measure Navigational Health Literacy
• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-COM-P Instrument to measure Communicative Health Literacy
• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-VAC Instrument to measure Vaccination Literacy

Factsheets with scoring based on dichotomized items

• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-Q12 Instrument to measure General Health Literacy
• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-NAV Instrument to measure Navigational Health Literacy
• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-COM-P Instrument to measure Communicative Health Literacy
• Factsheet on the HLS₁₉-VAC Instrument to measure Vaccination Literacy
   

• Guttersrud et al_Rasch analyses of data colllected in 17 countries_update 2023.pdf
• Waldherr, Karin; Alfers, Tobias; Peer, Sandra (2021): Development and validation of the HLS-EU-Q12
• Waldherr, Karin; Alfers, Tobias; Peer Sandra; Pelikan, Jürgen (2019): Development and validation of the HLS-EU-Q12

• HLS₁₉ International Report.pdf
• Annex of the HLS₁₉ International Report.pdf
• Rasch Analyses
• Corrigendum to the HLS₁₉ International Report

HLS₁₉ Executive Summary V1.1.pdf

HLS₁₉ Short Summary.pdf

Gillian Rowlands 
Principal Investigator 
Newcastle University
www.ncl.ac.uk