The effect of health literacy level on quality of life in dialysis patients

Objective: This study reveals the quality of life of dialysis patients in Yozgat for health literacy purposes. Method: This study is a correlational research and it is aimed to reach the entire universe without any sample selection. Patients who did not agree to participate in the study and who could not be reached were excluded from the sample. The research was conducted with 140 patients who regularly received hemodialysis treatment in dialysis units in Yozgat center and districts. As a data collection tool in the study, the Personal Information Form prepared by the researcher was used to reveal the socio-demographic characteristics of hemodialysis patients, the Quality of Life Scale SF-36 was used to reveal the quality of life levels, and the Turkey Health Literacy Scale-32 (TSOY-32) was used to reveal the health literacy levels. The data collected in the research were analyzed with the computer program SPSS 20 (Statistical Package for Social Science). Findigs: In the study, the average quality of life score of the patients was found to be 60.15 points out of 100. In this study, it was found that gender, age, education level, place of residence, working status, economic status, and internet use did not affect the quality of life. Quality of life scores of patients who did not have any disease other than chronic renal failure and those who had a mobile phone and an internet connection were found to be higher (p<0.05). In addition, the average health literacy scores of patients who stated that they use the internet as a method of obtaining health-related information are high. (p<0.05). The average score of the health literacy scale for hemodialysis patients was found to be 31.74, and it was observed that the patients corresponded to problematic limited health literacy in the health literacy scale scoring (>25-33). Additionally, the correlation between health literacy level and average quality of life was found to be r=0.379 and significant p<0.05. Conclusion: This study shows that there is a moderate positive correlation between the average quality of life score and the average health literacy score, that the health literacy level of the patients is limited or problematic, and that the quality of life increases significantly with the increase in the health literacy level. The study also shows that the quality of life and health literacy level of dialysis patients is low and that it is necessary to investigate how it can be improved. Keywords: Hemodialysis, Dialysis Patients, Health Literacy, Quality of Life, Communcation.