Relationship between Health Literacy and Self-care Behaviors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Health literacy (HL) is the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and the required services to make proper health decisions, which empowers the individuals to perform self-care behaviors. This study aimed to determine the relationship between health literacy and self-care in patients with type 2 diabetes.

This cross-sectional study was conducted on 390 patients who referred to rural health centers with type 2 diabetes in Babol, Iran, during 2017. The data were collected using Health Literacy for Iranian Adults and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities. Furthermore, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 20) through one-way ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient.

According to the results, the mean±SD HL of the patients was 48.56±16.31. Moreover, the results revealed that 55.9% of the patients had an inadequate level of HL. Moreover, the mean±SD of self-care score was obtained at 50.77±15.18 in one week. The results also revealed no significant relationship between HL and self-care behavior (P=0.064). However, HL was significantly correlated with gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupational status, socioeconomic status, and disease duration (P<0.05). Furthermore, self-care behavior was significantly correlated with the number of family members, educational level, and disease duration (P<0.05).

Given that over 50% of the patients have an inadequate level of HL, and considering that demographic characteristics play an important role in HL and performing self-care behavior, it is suggested that health care providers include these issues while developing healthcare programs.