Health literacy and health-related quality of life in type 2 diabetes: A cross-sectional study in Burkina Faso

Abstract

BackgroundHealth literacy refers to the skills and resources needed to find, understand and use information and services to maintain good health. Health-related quality of life refers to a person's perception of his or her health status, i.e., physical, social and mental well-being. The objective was to describe health literacy and analyze the relationships with quality of life and the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of people with type 2 diabetes in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. MethodsThis cross-sectional study involved 175 patients with type 2 diabetes recruited from the specialized departments of 5 hospitals. Health literacy was assessed by the multidimensional Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLQ) and quality of life by the EQ-5D-5 L (EuroQol, 5 dimensions and 5 levels). Standardized differences in means (effect size) were used to describe the magnitude of differences between subgroups. Results80.5% of patients in the sample were under 60 years of age. There were more women (70.3%) than men, 77.7% of patients had less than a high school education and 57.7% were employed. The most significant health literacy difficulties were found for the scales "Appraisal of health information" (mean = 2.57 [2.48 - 2.66]), "Navigating the health care system" (mean = 2.95 [2.84 - 3.06]), and “Ability to find good health information” (mean=2.96 [2.84 – 3.09]). In terms of quality of life, the "Pain/discomfort" dimension was the most impaired. Small to large standardized differences were observed for several HLQ scales according to gender, education level, employment status, family history status, length of time with diabetes and blood glucose level. There was a significant correlation between the HL and HRQoL scales (r from 0.31 to 0.49). ConclusionThis study objectively assessed the diversity of health literacy profiles on all scales of HLQ according to the socio-demographic status and specific characteristics of patients with type 2 diabetes. Building on the diverse health literacy needs can be a strategy to help reduce inequalities and improve quality of life in type 2 diabetes.