Health literacy and self-care in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitas

ABSTRACT

Adequate management of noncommunicable diseases is dependent on self-care1. Being diabetes mellitus one of these major diseases2, several determinants con-tribute to the process of health care and outcomes, however, in the last decades the evidence has been illustrating the concept of health literacy as a relevant and influential factor in diabetes3. In this cross-sectional study, developed in the municipal health centres of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, we used a data collection instrument with the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics created for this purpose and use the European Health Literacy Survey for Portugal4, the Diabetes Self-Care Activities Scale5 and the Treatment Adherence Scale6, too. In the sample (n = 138), we observed a low control of diabetes, including glyca-ted hemoglobin, low density lipoprotein, blood pressure and weight. About a quarter of respondents already showed complications of diabetes. In health literacy, we found a higher percentage of individuals with limited li-teracy in all domains. Adherence to self-care activities was also poor and activities with greater adherence were with medication. Given the inconsistency in the statistically significant relationship between health literacy and health outcomes, and that the results of this study seem to su-ggest that nursing interventions can condition the adherence to some of self-care activities, seeking to optimize the promotion of self-care, we suggest further re-search on the determinants that may influence it, namely the therapeutic relation-ship between the nurse and the adult with diabetes in the community context.

RESUMEN

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