Low health literacy is associated with higher risk of type 2 diabetes: a cross-sectional study in Germany.
BMC Public Health
; 21(1): 510, 2021 03 16.
Article
en En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33726714
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Low health literacy is believed to be associated with behaviours that increase the risk of type 2 diabetes. But there is limited knowledge on the relation between health literacy (HL) and diabetes risk, and whether improving HL could be a potential prevention strategy. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to examine the link between HL and diabetes risk among non-diabetic adults.METHODS:
We used data from the Hamburg Diabetes Prevention Survey, a population-based cross-sectional study in Germany. One thousand, two hundred and fifty-five non-diabetic subjects aged 18-60 years were eligible. The German Diabetes Risk Score (GDRS, ranging 0 to 123 points) was used to determine the individual risk of type 2 diabetes. The short version of the European Health Literacy Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q16, ranging 0 to 16 points) was applied to assess the individual self-reported HL. Subjects were asked to self-estimate their diabetes risk, which was then compared with the calculated GDRS. Descriptive statistics were calculated to investigate group differences in the GDRS and self-estimated diabetes risk. Linear as well as logistic regression models were performed to analyse potential influencing variables of the GDRS as well as incorrect self-estimated diabetes risk. In three nested statistical models for each outcome, these analyses were adjusted for age, gender, educational level and the presence of chronic conditions.RESULTS:
According to the criteria of the GDRS, 996 (79.4%) subjects showed "low risk", 176 (14.0%) "still low risk", 53 (4.2%) "elevated risk", and 30 (2.4%) "high to very high risk" to develop type 2 diabetes within the next 5 years. In the statistical models including all control variables, subjects with "inadequate HL" scored 2.38 points higher on the GDRS (95% CI 0.378 to 4.336; P = 0.020) and had a 2.04 greater chance to estimate their diabetes risk incorrectly (OR 2.04; 95% CI 1.33 to 3.14; P = 0.001) compared to those with "sufficient HL".CONCLUSION:
The risk of type 2 diabetes is increased in people with inadequate self-reported HL. People with high diabetes risk and inadequate HL might be provided with educational programs to improve diabetes knowledge and reduce behavioural risk factors.Palabras clave
Texto completo:
1
Banco de datos:
MEDLINE
Asunto principal:
Diabetes Mellitus Tipo 2
/
Alfabetización en Salud
Tipo de estudio:
Etiology_studies
/
Observational_studies
/
Prevalence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Límite:
Adolescent
/
Adult
/
Humans
/
Middle aged
País como asunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Año:
2021
Tipo del documento:
Article