Factor Associated with Health Literacy in Type 2 Diabetic Patients

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus is one of the critical noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) in Thailand. Poor glycemic control adversely affects patients’ quality of life, financial status, family and the Nation. Health literacy plays a major factor in good glycemic control. The objective of this research is to study factor associated with health literacy of 476 type2 diabetic patients at Primary Care. To find out, the researchers conveniently conducted an interview of random patients from August to November 2020. Patients were divided into 2 equal groups. (238 people with high health literacy and 238 with low health literacy). An interview included related factors, patients’ history, personal traits, HbA1C level, and level of health literacy in 7 aspects. Data analysis of descriptive statistics involved percentage, average, standard deviation, and analytic statistics, for example, Independent t-test, Chi-square test, or Fisher exact test. The overall results were analyzed on Multivariate analysis from Binary Logistic Regression. In conclusion, the result indicates that patients with high health literacy tend to have good glycemic control. The ratio of glycemic control (HbA1C < 7%) in patients with high health literacy is much better 2.22 times (OR 2.22, 95%CI 1.33-3.70) compared to those with low health literacy. The result suggests that doctors should evaluate health literacy and encourage type 2 diabetic patients to enhance the health literacy. The more health literacy patients have, the better glycemic control they will be.