Abstract
BackgroundTo reflect the health literacy (HL) skills needed for managing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in everyday life, HL in people with T2DM should be measured from a broader perspective than basic skills, such as proficiency in reading and writing. The HLS-Q12, based on the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47), assesses four cognitive domains across three health domains. International studies on people with T2DM show inconsistent results regarding the association between HL and general health and the association between HL and glycaemic control. Moreover, knowledge is needed related to the link between HL and empowerment for those with T2DM. The aims of this study were to examine the association between i) HL and general health and diabetes outcomes, ii) HL and health behaviours and iii) HL and empowerment in people with T2DM.MethodsDuring March and April 2015, 388 adults with T2DM responded to a paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire. A sequential multiple regression analysis was applied to explore the association between HL, as measured by the HLS-Q12, and health conditions, HbA1c, health behaviours and empowerment.ResultsFor people with T2DM, higher levels of HL were associated with higher levels of education, better overall health conditions and higher self-perceived empowerment. No empirical evidence strengthening either the link between HL and glycaemic control or the link between HL and health behaviours was found.ConclusionsThe independent variables education level, overall health condition and empowerment explained about one-third of the total observed variance in HL.
Highlights
To reflect the health literacy (HL) skills needed for managing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in everyday life, Health literacy (HL) in people with Type 2 diabetes (T2DM) should be measured from a broader perspective than basic skills, such as proficiency in reading and writing
The aims of this study were to examine the association between i) HL and general health and diabetes outcomes, ii) HL and health behaviours and iii) HL and empowerment in people with T2DM. Study design This cross-sectional study was conducted based on data from adults with T2DM recruited from the Norwegian Diabetes Association (NDA)—a member of the International Diabetes Federation
HL and demographic variables, general health, diabetes outcome, health behaviours and empowerment-related indicators Based on the investigation of HL across the levels of person factors and general health using independent t-tests, those with an education level at the university/university college level and those who reported their general health
Summary
To reflect the health literacy (HL) skills needed for managing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in everyday life, HL in people with T2DM should be measured from a broader perspective than basic skills, such as proficiency in reading and writing. Studies have linked poor diabetes knowledge [4,5,6], poor glycaemic control [5, 7,8,9] and diabetic retinopathy [7] in people with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) to low HL. Using a modified version of the Functional, Communicative and Critical Health Literacy scale (FCCHL) [10], Finbråten et al [11] found that lower HL is linked with poorer self-reported general health in people with T2DM. Neither the links between low HL and diabetes outcomes, such as poor glycaemic control [13,14,15], nor the links between HL and other self-reported health-related measures, such as general health and quality of life, are consistent [13, 16, 17].
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