Health Literacy and its Related Factors in Dialysis Patients: A Cross-sectional Study in Iran

Inadequate health literacy (HL) in dialysis patients increases the risk of poor self-care and decreases severe self-care and severe negative health outcomes in these patients. This study aimed to investigate HL and its related factors in dialysis patients in Kerman, Iran, in 2021.

This cross-sectional study was performed on 280 dialysis patients who referred to Kerman (Iran) dialysis centres. The participants were selected through multi-stage sampling method. The study was conducted using the Iranian Health Literacy Questionnaire (IHLQ). The higher score shows a better HL.

The mean age of the subjects was 57.75 ± 13.87 years. The mean score of HL was 9.12 ± 4.54 out of 20 points. During multivariate regression, there was a significant relationship between HL and age (β = -0.08, P = 0.02) and level of education (elementary/literacy (β = 4.607, P < 0.001), middle school (β = 6.38, P < 0.001), high school (β = 8.573, P < 0.001) and academic education (β = 9.410, P < 0.001), and there was a significant relationship between HL and eye disease (β = -0.903, P = 0.001).

Most participants did not have adequate HL, while HL as the most important determinant of self-care can improve patients’ quality of life and reduce their health care costs. Therefore, in order to increase self-care, planning and necessary interventions, the HL of these patients seems to be necessary