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Chaleshgar - kordasiabi M, Ramezani A, Bakhshavand A. Relationship between Health Literacy and Self-care Behaviors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes. J Health Syst Res 2020; 15 (4) :262-271
URL: http://hsr.mui.ac.ir/article-1-1102-en.html

Background: Health literacy (HL) is the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and the required services to make proper health decisions, which empowers the individuals to perform self-care behaviors. This study aimed to determine the relationship between health literacy and self-care in patients with type 2 diabetes. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 390 patients who referred to rural health centers with type 2 diabetes in Babol, Iran, during 2017. The data were collected using Health Literacy for Iranian Adults and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities. Furthermore, the data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 20) through one-way ANOVA, t-test, and Pearson correlation coefficient.
Findings: According to the results, the mean±SD HL of the patients was 48.56±16.31. Moreover, the results revealed that 55.9% of the patients had an inadequate level of HL. Moreover, the mean±SD of self-care score was obtained at 50.77±15.18 in one week. The results also revealed no significant relationship between HL and self-care behavior (P=0.064). However, HL was significantly correlated with gender, age, marital status, educational level, occupational status, socioeconomic status, and disease duration (P<0.05). Furthermore, self-care behavior was significantly correlated with the number of family members, educational level, and disease duration (P<0.05). 
Conclusion: Given that over 50% of the patients have an inadequate level of HL, and considering that demographic characteristics play an important role in HL and performing self-care behavior, it is suggested that health care providers include these issues while developing healthcare programs.