The study participants were ethnically diverse, had low income and educational attainment, and were predominantly uninsured or publicly insured (Table 1). Most patients were treated with oral hypoglycemic agents either alone or with insulin. The mean abbreviated s-TOFHLA score was 21 (range, 0-36). Thirty-eight percent of patients had inadequate health literacy (s-TOFHLA score, 0-16), and 13% had marginal health literacy (s-TOFHLA score, 17-22). Patients with inadequate health literacy were more likely than patients with adequate health literacy (s-TOFHLA, 23-36) to be older, female, nonwhite, and Spanish-speaking, to have Medicare coverage, to have received only some high school education or less, and to have had diabetes longer.