HEALTH LITERACY, KNOWLEDGE OF DISEASE AND RISK FOR DIABETIC FOOT IN ADULTS: CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Abstract

Objective: to analyze the relationship of health literacy, knowledge of the disease and risk for the development of diabetic foot in adults with Diabetes Mellitus, according to sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. Method: cross-sectional, descriptive and analytical study, conducted from January to March 2020. The participants were 33 adults with glycemic alterations registered in a health unit in the Metropolitan Region of Curitiba, Paraná, Brazil. A sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire was applied and the Eight-Item Health Literacy Assessment Tool and Spoken Knowledge in Low Literacy Patients with Diabetes were applied. Results: there was a predominance of satisfactory literacy and adequate knowledge, associated with age (≤59 years), time of schooling (>4 years) and diagnosis (>5 years). When crossing the variables of health literacy and knowledge of the disease with the risk for diabetic foot there was no statistical significance. Conclusion: satisfactory levels of literacy were associated with adequate knowledge, unrelated to the risk for diabetic foot.