Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Jan;102(1):5-9.
doi: 10.1016/s0027-9684(15)30469-7.

The impact of health literacy on self-monitoring of blood glucose in patients with diabetes receiving care in an inner-city hospital

Nkechi Mbaezue  1 , Robert Mayberry, Julie Gazmararian, Alexander Quarshie, Chinedu Ivonye, Michael Heisler
Affiliations

The impact of health literacy on self-monitoring of blood glucose in patients with diabetes receiving care in an inner-city hospital

Nkechi Mbaezue et al. J Natl Med Assoc. 2010 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Self-monitoring of blood glucose (SMBG) is considered to be 1 of the cornerstones of diabetes self-management. It is unclear whether inadequate health literacy affects SMBG.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between health literacy and SMBG.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional survey of 189 patients with diabetes, aged 18 to 65 years, receiving care in a large urban, public health care setting. We measured health literacy using the shortened version of the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults. The diabetes care profile was used to determine the use of self-monitoring of blood glucose.

Results: Most (60.9%) of the survey participants were assessed as functionally health literate. The majority (90.9%) of the study participants reported testing their blood sugar at least once daily. Although adequate health literacy was associated with recording of blood sugar testing (p = .049), we found no statistically significant relationship between health literacy and the frequency of SMBG. Persons self-reporting having diabetes for more than 10 years were less likely to self-monitor blood glucose (odds ratio, 0.33; 95% CI, 0.11-0.99).

Conclusions: SMBG frequency is not independently associated with health literacy, but SMBG result recording is noted among patients with inadequate literacy.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Schillinger D, Grumbach K, Piette J, et al. Association of health literacy with diabetes outcomes. JAMA. 2002;288:475–482. - PubMed
    1. Williams MV, Baker DW, Parker RM, et al. Relationship of functional health literacy to patient's knowledge of their chronic disease. Arch Intern Med. 1998;158:166–172. - PubMed
    1. Glasgow RE, Hampson SE, Strycker LA, et al. Personal-model beliefs and social-environmental barriers related diabetes self-management. Diabetes Care. 1997;20:556–561. - PubMed
    1. Glasgow RE, Wagner EH, Kaplan RM, et al. If diabetes is a public health problem, why not treat it as one? A population-based approach to chronic illness. Ann Behav Med. 1999;21:159–170. - PubMed
    1. Karter AJ, Ferrara A, Darbinian JA, et al. Self-monitoring of blood glucose: Language and financial barriers in a managed care population with diabetes. Diabetes Care. 2000;23:477. - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms