Association among high blood pressure health literacy, social support and health-related quality of life among a community population with hypertension: a community-based cross-sectional study in China

OBJECTIVES: The prevalence of hypertension is increasing worldwide. Hypertensive patients in China have limited high blood pressure health literacy (HBP-HL) and social support (SS), which may have an impact on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and lead to poorer clinical outcomes. However, the potential mechanism of HBP-HL, SS and HRQoL remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association among HBP-HL, SS and HRQoL among community patients with hypertension in China. DESIGN: A community-based cross-sectional survey. SETTING: The community health service center in Huzhou, China. PARTICIPANTS: 406 community patients with hypertension were investigated from June to October 2019. PRIMARY OUTCOME MEASURES: HRQoL was assessed using the Quality of Life Instruments for Chronic Diseases-Hypertension V2.0, HBP-HL was assessed with the HBP-Health Literacy Scale into Chines and SS was assessed with the Social Support Rating Scale. RESULTS: Compared with moderate level of HRQoL and SS, HBP-HL of community hypertensive patients was significantly deficient. Overall, 93 patients (23.2%) lacked HBP-HL, 308 patients (76.8%) had a medium level of HBP-HL, and none of them had sufficient HBP-HL. Correlation analysis showed that HBP-HL, SS and HRQoL were positively correlated (p<0.01). The significant differences in HRQoL and SS were detected in HBP-HL level (p<0.001). In multiple linear regression models, HRQoL was significantly associated with ‘Print HL’ and ‘Medication Label’ of HBP-HL (p<0.05) and all three dimensions of SS (p<0.05). In addition, The bootstrap method was used to examine the indirect effect among variables. The results showed that SS played a mediating role between HBP-HL and HRQoL (p<0.001). CONCLUSION: There is an association among HBP-HL, SS and HRQoL in community hypertension patients. HBP-HL can directly affect HRQoL, and through SS mediate the HRQoL. Community intervention for hypertension management should consider HBP-HL promotion and social engagement as the breakthrough points to increase the impact on patients’ HRQoL.