Family Health Unit St. André de Canidelo, R. das Fábricas, 282, 4400-712, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
Family Health Unit Avintes, Vila Nova de Gaia, Portugal.
Acta Diabetol. 2022 Jun;59(6):819-825. doi: 10.1007/s00592-022-01875-2. Epub 2022 Mar 19.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a common chronic disease with serious individual and socioeconomic consequences. Low health literacy (HL) has been associated with higher morbimortality. Health knowledge about DM (HK-DM) may also influence individual health. We aimed to assess HL and HK-DM in patients with type 2 DM and their associations with metabolic control.
Our sample comprised 194 diabetic patients from a primary care health centre. We collected clinical and demographic data and applied two validated questionnaires, the Newest Vital Sign (NST) and Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT), to assess HL and HK-DM, respectively. Metabolic control was defined as HbA1c < 7.0%. Participants were classified according to the NST as having "high likelihood of limited HL" (HLL-HL), "possibility of limited HL" (PL-HL), or "adequate HL" (A-HL) and by the DKT as having "low", "average" and "good" HK. Statistical analysis included logistic regression models, using p < 0.05 as a cut-off for statistical significance.
Overall, 72.7 and 34.7% of participants had HLL-HL and low HK-DM, respectively. A-HL (OR = 6.02; 95% CI: 1.691-21.450) and PL-HL (OR = 4.78; 95% CI: 1.350-16.899) were significantly associated with better metabolic control than HLL-HL. We did not find a significant association between HK-DM and metabolic control.
HL seems to be associated with better metabolic control. We also found a high prevalence of illiteracy and scarce knowledge about DM. Primary care physicians should promote HL to help patients achieve better metabolic control.
糖尿病（DM）是一种常见的慢性疾病，会对个人和社会经济造成严重后果。健康素养（HL）较低与更高的发病率和死亡率有关。对 DM 的健康知识（HK-DM）也可能影响个人健康。我们旨在评估 2 型糖尿病患者的 HL 和 HK-DM 及其与代谢控制的关系。
我们的样本包括来自一个初级保健中心的 194 名糖尿病患者。我们收集了临床和人口统计学数据，并应用了两个经过验证的问卷，即最新生命体征（NST）和糖尿病知识测试（DKT），分别评估 HL 和 HK-DM。代谢控制定义为 HbA1c<7.0%。根据 NST，参与者被分为“极有可能存在 HL 受限”（HLL-HL）、“可能存在 HL 受限”（PL-HL）或“HL 充足”（A-HL），根据 DKT 分为“低”、“平均”和“良好”HK。统计分析包括逻辑回归模型，以 p<0.05 为统计学显著的截止值。
总体而言，72.7%和 34.7%的参与者分别具有 HLL-HL 和低 HK-DM。A-HL（OR=6.02；95%CI：1.691-21.450）和 PL-HL（OR=4.78；95%CI：1.350-16.899）与更好的代谢控制显著相关，而 HLL-HL 则没有。我们没有发现 HK-DM 与代谢控制之间存在显著的相关性。
HL 似乎与更好的代谢控制相关。我们还发现，存在较高的文盲率和对 DM 的知识匮乏。初级保健医生应促进 HL，帮助患者实现更好的代谢控制。
