The relationship between health literacy and healthy living behaviors in individuals with chronic diseases

In recent years, the majority of deaths in the world are caused by chronic diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and risk factors (such as smoking and alcohol use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity) that cause these diseases. Chronic diseases, which have a significant share in the burden of disease in the world and in our country, have economic consequences as well as their effects on human health. In addition to the high health expenditures brought by the treatment of chronic diseases, the impact of the productivity of the individuals within the scope of the workforce also has negative effects on socioeconomic development. Considering the effects of chronic diseases on both the quality and duration of life and the costs they cause, it is necessary to prevent the risk factors that cause the disease. For this reason, it is important to acquire and maintain healthy lifestyle behaviors. Acquiring these behaviors requires the ability of individuals to understand and use their health information. This situation is called "health literacy". The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between health literacy and healthy lifestyle behaviors in individuals with chronic diseases. The population of the research consists of chronic patients living in Üsküdar district of Istanbul province. The research was carried out with 389 chronic patients determined using the random sampling method. After the demographic information questionnaire consisting of 14 questions, the "Turkey Health Literacy (TSOY-32)" scale consisting of 32 questions and the "Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors Scale II" consisting of 52 questions were applied to the participants. The health literacy general index score of the participants was 34.09±7.30, and the health literacy level was 6.9% insufficient, 41.9% problematic-limited, 32.4% adequate and 18.8% excellent. detected. The mean score they got from the "Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors II" scale was determined as 123.49±18.25. As a result of the regression analysis, it is seen that health literacy has a positive effect on healthy lifestyle behaviors. As a result of the research, suggestions were made for activities and practices that would increase health literacy and enable individuals to gain health-promoting behaviors.