Health literacy and related factors in patients receiving hemodialisis treatment in elazig province

Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is an important public health problem that has become an epidemic in the world and in our country. According to World Health Organization (WHO), health literacy is "related to general literacy and is the ability of people to access health-related information sources in order to develop opinions and make decisions on issues related to health services throughout their lives, to protect, maintain and improve their health, and to improve their quality of life." "their desire and capacity to accurately perceive and understand health-related information and messages." Low levels of Health literacy lead to consequences such as inability to adhere to medical advice and/or instructions, increased frequency of hospitalization and length of stay, and increased mortality. This situation becomes more important especially in serious chronic diseases such as Chronic Renal Dissase (CKD). This study aimed to investigate the health literacy level and related factors of patients receiving hospital hemodialysis, which is the most commonly used replacement therapy for renal failure, which is frequently seen among chronic diseases. The population of this descriptive and cross-sectional research is; It consists of 400 patients receiving hemodialysis in Elazığ province. The aim of the research was to reach the entire population without using any sample selection method. For data collection, a survey form and Health literacy scale developed by the researchers by reviewing the literature were used. The survey was administered by the researchers through a face-to-face interview. The data were recorded in the statistical package program, and Mann-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, Spearman Correlation tests were used in statistical analyses. The average age of the participants is 56.57±15.66, 61.1% are male and 88% are not employed. 42.3% of the patients have been receiving hemodialysis treatment for 3 years or less and 66.1% were found to have comorbidities of CKD. The health literacy scale total score median of the study participants was found to be 2.86 (1.25-4.18). When the patients' scores are evaluated; It has been determined that the difficulty levels of hemodialysis patients in terms of SOF characteristics vary between 3.0-3.6, and the difficulty experienced is perceived at the level of "I have little difficulty to some difficulty". Health literacy scale total score; It was found to be higher in patients whose first place of application in case of illness was ASM. In conclusion; It is thought that studies that will increase the level of HCQ of the society will contribute greatly to the cost-effective use of health expenditures, and the active participation of research participants in the treatment processes of patients and individuals who can follow their own treatment process individually without needing anyone else should be targeted, and for this, regular training should be provided and how this training affects the level of health literacy should be monitored. Keywords: Health Literacy, Hemodialysis, Chronic Disease.