Ethics in Patients' Health Literacy: a scoping review and a critical discussion.

This article focuses on the ethical issues related to adult patients' health literacy (HL) and its relationship with quality of life (QOL). Following a scoping review of 45 studies published between 2009 and 2024, four main themes emerged: patient understanding and language use, human rights, the principlism bioethical framework (justice, beneficence, non-maleficence, and autonomy), and the correlation between HL and QOL. The review highlights concerns that patients with limited HL often provide informed consent without fully understanding medical information, raising ethical challenges around autonomy and justice. Most studies found a positive correlation between HL and QOL, suggesting that improving HL can enhance patient-centered care, promote social justice, and improve health outcomes, though some studies reported moderate or negative associations. The article underscores the need for health policies to address HL ethically, especially for vulnerable populations, and calls for further research on HL’s ethical dimensions in healthcare.