The Relationship of Health Literacy with Adherence to Treatment and Body Mass Index in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Referred to Yazd Diabetes Center, Iran

One of the principles of diabetes control is to maintain a healthy body mass index (BMI) and adhere to treatment. Health literacy can significantly impact the management of diabetes. This study aimed to determine the relationship between health literacy, treatment adherence, and BMI in patients with type 2 diabetes.

This cross-sectional descriptive study was performed on 145 patients with type 2 diabetes who were referred to the Yazd Diabetes Center, Iran, and selected using a convenience sampling method. To gather data, questionnaires on Iranian health literacy and adherence to treatment were used. BMI was calculated using the measured height and weight. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS software.

The average health literacy score was 145.17 ± 18.75, and the majority of participants (63.4%) demonstrated an excellent level of health literacy. The average adherence to treatment was 176.23 ± 7.03, and 93.5% exhibited a very high level of adherence to treatment. Moreover, the average BMI was 27.09 ± 4.05 kg/m2, and the majority (45%) were classified as overweight. Pearson's correlation test showed a positive and significant relationship between health literacy and adherence to treatment (r = 0.325, P = 0.001), as well as a negative and significant correlation between health literacy and BMI (r = -0.518, P = 0.001).

Improving health literacy leads to increased treatment adherence and decreased BMI. Therefore, health service managers can enhance treatment adherence and reduce BMI by prioritizing infrastructure and management planning to promote health literacy.