Investigation of the relationship between health literacy and self-care level in individuals with hypertension

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between health literacy and self-care level in individuals with hypertension. This descriptive and correlational type research was conducted between January and September 2024 on 522 individuals with hypertension who were hospitalized in the internal medicine ward of Aksaray University Education and Research Hospital and who applied to the internal medicine outpatient clinics. The data of the study were collected using the "Introductory Information Form", "Health Literacy Scale (HLS)" and "Hypertension Self-Care Profile (HBP SCP-Tr)" via face-to-face interviews. Ordinal data from the research data were calculated with arithmetic mean, standard deviation, minimum, maximum values, and nominal data were evaluated as frequency and percentage. Parametric tests were used for variables showing normal distribution, and non-parametric tests (Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal-Wallis tests in independent groups, etc.) were used for variables not showing normal distribution. Pearson correlation analysis was used to determine the correlation coefficients between scales. The total Health Literacy Scale score average of the participants was found to be 62.16±11.64. The mean scores of the participants regarding the behavior, motivation and self-efficacy sub-dimensions of the Hypertension Self-Care Profile Scale were determined as 31.19±6.37, 46.86±8.27 and 36.85±7.17, respectively. In the correlation analysis, it was found that there was a weak positive relationship between the participants' health literacy level total score and the hypertension self-care profile behavior (r=0.169, p<0.01), motivation (r=0.222, p<0.01) and self-efficacy (r=0.173, p<0.01) sub-dimensions. As a result of the study, it can be said that as the health literacy level of individuals with hypertension increases, their hypertension self-care behavior, self-care motivation and self-efficacy levels increase. In line with these findings, it is thought that evaluating the health literacy level of individuals with hypertension and providing training and consultancy to improve it in order to improve health, increase quality of life and create healthy societies can also positively improve the self-care levels of individuals.