Cargando…

The Association of Health Literacy Level with Self-Care Behaviors and Glycemic Control in a Low Education Population with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Cross-Sectional Study in Iran

INTRODUCTION: Promoting Health Literacy (HL) can be a priority in strategic healthcare planning of the countries. Low HL is prevalent in some societies which make barriers to successful self-care of diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the association of HL with self-care behaviors and gly...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Maleki Chollou, Khalil, Gaffari-fam, Saber, Babazadeh, Towhid, Daemi, Amin, Bahadori, Ali, Heidari, Sohrab
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Dove 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7245439/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32547130
http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/DMSO.S253607
Descripción
Sumario:INTRODUCTION: Promoting Health Literacy (HL) can be a priority in strategic healthcare planning of the countries. Low HL is prevalent in some societies which make barriers to successful self-care of diseases. The aim of this study was to examine the association of HL with self-care behaviors and glycemic control in a low education population with type 2 diabetes mellitus. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Sarab city, Iran. The 192 participants were patients diagnosed as type 2 diabetes and with low level of education. Convenient sampling method was applied and the participants were chosen by their medical records in health-care centers. To collect data a valid and reliable tool was used based on HL dimensions and self-care behaviors. Using hierarchical logistic regression, the possible association of variables with self-care behaviors and glycemic control was assessed. RESULTS: The mean age of study participants was 58.12 (±11.83) years. A 28.8% of the variation in the self-care behaviors is explained by the HL and the demographic variables (R= 0.288%; p-value<0.05). Furthermore, decision-making was the strongest predictor of self-care behaviors (β= 0.451). Approximately 80% of the variation in the HbA1c is explained by the HL, self-care behaviors, and the demographic variables (R= 0.804%; p-value<0.05). CONCLUSION: This study revealed that the HL dimensions predicted approximately one-fourth of self-care behaviors and the self-care behaviors and HL dimensions about eight-tenths of HbA1c in this population. These findings call for the need for interventional programs on HL to improve the self-care behaviors and HbA1c control.