Association between functional health literacy and self-care with diabetes mellitus

Abstract

Objective: To associate the level of functional health literacy and self-care with Diabetes. Method: A cross-sectional quantitative study conducted with 97 patients from a reference center for diabetic care from February to June 2018. With data from the Brief Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults and the Diabetes Self-Care Activity Questionnaire. Descriptive analysis and Chi-square test were performed. Results: Inadequate functional literacy was identified in 47% of the patients. An association was observed between inadequate literacy and low levels of adherence to: follow-up of healthy diet and dietary orientation (p<0.001), sweets intake (p<0.001) and glycemic assessment at the recommended number of times (p<0.001). Conclusion: Inadequate literacy is associated with low mean levels of adherence to diet-related behaviors and blood glucose monitoring. These findings suggest to include the assessment of literacy and self-care with diabetes in the clinical practice.