The relationship between health literacy and glycemic profile in type II diabetic patients

This cross-sectional study aimed to determine the relationship between the health literacy levels and glycemic control of 90 randomly selected type 2 diabetic patients who had been diagnosed for at least one year and applied to a Primary Health Care Cervices in Muğla. The patients' sociodemographic characteristics and anthropometric measurements were obtained through face-to-face interviews with the researcher, and their biochemical findings were obtained from the patient data system. Additionally, using the Health Literacy Scale, patients were classified as weak, moderate, good, or very good based on their scores. The sociodemographic characteristics, anthropometric measurements, and biochemical findings obtained from the patients were evaluated according to this classification. The patients, whose average age was 60 (54-62) years, consisted of 52,2% females and 47,8% males. 7,8% of the patients were first-degree obese, 36,7% were high school graduates, and 5,56% had weak health literacy, while 53,33% had very good health literacy. Patients with moderate health literacy had higher fasting blood glucose (FBG) levels than those with good and very good health literacy, while their Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels were higher than those with weak, good, and very good health literacy. There was a significant negative correlation between the functional health literacy and communication health literacy scores and the FBG levels of patients with type 2 diabetes (r = -0.220, p = 0.037 and r = -0.222, p = 0.036, respectively). As the serum HbA1c (%) levels of the patients increased, a significant decrease in their functional health literacy scores was observed (r = -0.308, p = 0.003). Additionally, there was a negative correlation between the serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL mg/dL) levels and communication health literacy scores of the patients (r = -0.030, p = 0.779). In Model 0, without making any adjustment for confounding factors such as age, gender, and education level, there was a significant negative correlation between the FBG levels and functional health literacy (r = -0.220, p = 0.037) and communication health literacy scores (r = -0.222, p = 0.036). After adjustment for confounding factors in Model 1, it was determined that an increase in the FBG and HbA1c levels by one unit (β = -0.220, 0.022, β = -0.346, p = 0.003, respectively) caused a decrease in functional health literacy scores. The study emphasized the importance of health literacy in glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes and highlighted the necessity of diabetic patient education. Keywords: Nutritional Habits, Glycemic Control, Health Literacy, Type 2 Diabetes