Health literacy of patients with hypertension and diabetes in a northern region of Portugal

Abstract

Background: Health Literacy (HL) is a concept that can be analyzed in 3 domains: health promotion, disease prevention and health care. Objective: Describe HL level of a group of patients with hypertension and diabetes in a northern region of Portugal. Methodology: Cross-sectional descriptive-exploratory study. Sample of convenience, with 401 users of a clus-ter of health centers in the northern region of Portugal. Data were collected after informed consent of the users, through a survey with the LS assessment scale European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-PT), translated and val-idated into Portuguese. Descriptive and inferential statis-tics techniques were used, using SPSS, version 24. Results: Users presented an inadequate or problematic level of HL. These considered the doctor and the nurse as the professionals who can improve their HL level. Conclusion: Low HL level is a problem for health management, it is important to focus on a strategy to increase HL in chronic disease patients.