Relationship between health literacy and lifestyle in patients with heart failure

Abstract

Research background: Cardiac failure is a chronic and costly disease that healthy lifestyle is effective in preventing it, and health literacy is also needed to improve their self-care. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between health literacy and lifestyle in patients with heart failure hospitalized in Zahedan. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed on 180 patients with heart failure hospitalized in Zahedan in 1396. Samples were selected using simple random sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Results: The average level of health literacy level was 22.7 (out of 43) with a standard deviation of 6.6. 40% had inadequate health literacy, 45% had a moderate level of education, and 15% had an adequate and desirable level of literacy. The mean score of lifestyle was 12.28 and the standard deviation was 6.9 (out of 245), which was more than average. According to the Pearson correlation coefficient, there was a direct and statistically significant relationship between health literacy and lifestyle (p = 0.02, r = 0.51). Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that patients with heart failure experienced a healthier lifestyle with increasing health literacy, and although they had not enough health literacy, their healthy lifestyle was above average.