Health Literacy, Knowledge and Relevant Factors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Presenting to a Diabetes Clinic in Zahedan in 2014

Health literacy is a major factor contributing to the effective control and prevention of diabetes. Diabetes patients with low health literacy have a lower adherence to self-care activities and blood sugar control. The present study was conducted to assess health literacy, knowledge and relevant factors in patients with type 2 diabetes presenting to a diabetes clinic in Zahedan, Iran, in 2014.
The present descriptive, analytical, cross-sectional study was conducted on 182 patients with type 2 diabetes selected through convenience sampling in 2014. A valid and reliable health literacy and knowledge inventory was used. Data were analyzed in SPSS-16 using descriptive statistics and the linear regression analysis.
The majority of the participating patients were woman (75.8%), illiterate (38.5%) and married (85.2%). A total of 31.3% of the patients had an adequate health literacy, 61.5% had a marginal and 7.1% an inadequate health literacy, while 58% had a high level of knowledge. A statistically significant relationship was observed between health literacy and the level of education (P0.05).
The study revealed the majority of patients with type 2 diabetes to have marginal health literacy, while health literacy was lower in women than in men. Simple training programs are recommended to be designed for improving health literacy, especially among women and people with lower levels of education.