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
. 2020 Feb 3;20(1):161.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-020-8274-z.

Explaining variance in health literacy among people with type 2 diabetes: the association between health literacy and health behaviour and empowerment

Hanne Søberg Finbråten  1   2 , Øystein Guttersrud  3 , Gun Nordström  4 , Kjell Sverre Pettersen  5 , Anne Trollvik  4 , Bodil Wilde-Larsson  4   6
Affiliations

Explaining variance in health literacy among people with type 2 diabetes: the association between health literacy and health behaviour and empowerment

Hanne Søberg Finbråten et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: To reflect the health literacy (HL) skills needed for managing type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in everyday life, HL in people with T2DM should be measured from a broader perspective than basic skills, such as proficiency in reading and writing. The HLS-Q12, based on the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire (HLS-EU-Q47), assesses four cognitive domains across three health domains. International studies on people with T2DM show inconsistent results regarding the association between HL and general health and the association between HL and glycaemic control. Moreover, knowledge is needed related to the link between HL and empowerment for those with T2DM. The aims of this study were to examine the association between i) HL and general health and diabetes outcomes, ii) HL and health behaviours and iii) HL and empowerment in people with T2DM.

Methods: During March and April 2015, 388 adults with T2DM responded to a paper-and-pencil self-administered questionnaire. A sequential multiple regression analysis was applied to explore the association between HL, as measured by the HLS-Q12, and health conditions, HbA1c, health behaviours and empowerment.

Results: For people with T2DM, higher levels of HL were associated with higher levels of education, better overall health conditions and higher self-perceived empowerment. No empirical evidence strengthening either the link between HL and glycaemic control or the link between HL and health behaviours was found.

Conclusions: The independent variables education level, overall health condition and empowerment explained about one-third of the total observed variance in HL.

Keywords: Empowerment; General health; HLS-Q12; Health behaviour; Health literacy; Sequential multiple regression analysis; Type 2 diabetes.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

References

    1. Schulz PJ, Nakamoto K. Health literacy and patient empowerment in health communication: the importance of separating conjoined twins. Patient Educ Couns. 2013;90(1):4–11. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2012.09.006. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sørensen K, Van den Broucke S, Fullam J, Doyle G, Pelikan J, Slonska Z, Brand H. Health literacy and public health: a systematic review and integration of definitions and models. BMC Public Health. 2012;12(1):1–13. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-80. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Johnson A. Health literacy, does it make a difference? Aust J Adv Nurs. 2014;31(3):39.
    1. van der Heide I, Uiters E, Rademakers J, Struijs JN, Schuit AJ, Baan CA. Associations among health literacy, diabetes knowledge, and self-management behavior in adults with diabetes: results of a Dutch cross-sectional study. J Health Commun. 2014;19(Suppl 2):115–131. doi: 10.1080/10810730.2014.936989. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Powell CK, Hill EG, Clancy DE. The relationship between health literacy and diabetes knowledge and readiness to take health actions. Diabetes Educ. 2007;33(1):144–151. doi: 10.1177/0145721706297452. - DOI - PubMed