scholarly journals HEALTH LITERACY OF INDIVIDUALS UNDERGOING DIALYSIS THERAPY

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jéssica Naylla de Melo Bezerra ◽  
Sara Rebeca de Oliveira Lessa ◽  
Marcelo Francisco do Ó ◽  
Givaneide Oliveira de Andrade Luz ◽  
Anna Karla de Oliveira Tito Borba

ABSTRACT Objective: to assess the functional levels of health literacy in individuals undergoing dialysis. Method: a cross-sectional study with 42 patients of the Nephrology Unit of a public hospital in Recife, Brazil, from May to August 2016. Data were collected through scripted interviews and chart analysis. Functional health literacy was measured using the Brazilian version of the Short-Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS®) software, version 18.0, with a univariate analysis to verify the association between independent variables and functional health literacy levels using Fisher's exact test. Results: 80.9% of the patients presented inadequate health literacy and 19.1% presented adequate health literacy. The number of correct answers remained between 0-18 in the reading comprehension and in the scheduling appointment card. Among the independent variables, only marital status (p-value=0.018) and personal income (p-value=0.009) were factors associated with the worst scores in the test, indicating that these variables influence the increase in inadequate literacy. Conclusion: the prevalence of inadequate functional literacy was high, reflecting difficulties in understanding and processing health information, which may interfere with therapeutic management and self-care.

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (3) ◽  
pp. 633-639 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackelline Evellin Moreira dos Santos ◽  
Virginia Visconde Brasil ◽  
Katarinne Lima Moraes ◽  
Jacqueline Andréia Bernardes Leão Cordeiro ◽  
Gabriela Ferreira de Oliveira ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: To verify the comprehension of the education handout and the level of Functional Health Literacy of individuals with cardiac pacemaker (PM) and whether there is correlation between the comprehension and Functional Health Literacy (FHL). Method: Cross-sectional study with 63 individuals with PM who answered to comprehension tests of the handout, literacy assessment (SAHLPA-50) and cognition (MMSE). Measurements of dispersion, Pearson correlation and multiple linear regression were calculated. Results: Most women, study time ≤ 9 years, 66.21 (average age) presented no cognitive changes. An adequate literacy level was evidenced in 50.8% individuals with PM and satisfactory comprehension of the handout. No correlation was identified between FHL, handout comprehension, age, years of study and cognition. Conclusion: The handout comprehension assessed by individuals with appropriate FHL indicated that it can be a printed material suitable for use, aiming to improve care process and knowledge of individuals with PM.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Refat Mehzabin ◽  
Kazi Jahangir Hossain ◽  
Md. Moniruzzaman ◽  
S K Jakaria Been Sayeed

Background: Diabetes mellitus is responsible for significant morbidity and mortality around the world though there is huge development regarding its treatment. Many studies showed that functional health literacy has a great impact on diabetes outcome. The study assessed the relationship between functional health literacy and glycemic control in a sample of urban diabetic patients. Materials and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in Bangladesh University of Health and Science Hospital, Jurain, Dhaka from January to December 2014 that included adult diabetic patients on the basis of defined selection criteria following the purposive sampling method. Functional health literacy was assessed with the short form Test of the Functional Health Literacy in Adults (s-TOFLA). Recent HbA1c was used as a measure of glycemic control and categorized into tight, fair and inadequate glycemic control. Regression models were controlled for demographic data, diabetes duration, treatment regimen, diabetes knowledge and assistance for taking medications. Results: Following the s-TOFLA scale, 60.5% of the diabetic patients had inadequate functional health literacy of them, 89.3% had inadequate glycemic control (HbA1c>8%). And those who had adequate functional health literacy (24%) of them 68.8% had tight glycemic control (HbA1c≤7%). Overall 63.0% of the respondents had inadequate glycemic control. In linear regression model low s-TOFLA scores, longer diabetes duration and lack of assistance for taking medications were associated with higher levels of HbA1c. In fully adjusted model s-TOFLA score was the variable which was more strongly associated with HbA1c (β = -0.60, P<0.001). Conclusions: The study found that low health literacy is consistently associated with inadequate glycemic control. J MEDICINE JUL 2019; 20 (1) : 19-24


2021 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taciane Alvarenga Perez ◽  
Eduardo Federighi Baisi Chagas ◽  
Osni Lázaro Pinheiro

ABSTRACT Objective: To verify the relationship between adherence to antiretroviral therapy and Functional Health Literacy. Methods: Cross-sectional study, carried out in the Specialized Care Service in 2019, using questionnaires about adherence to treatment and Functional Health literacy people living with human immunodeficiency virus. The LFS questionnaire has questions about numerical and text interpretation skills and the adherence questionnaire addresses how to use antiretrovirals. Viral load was verified by analysis of medical records. Associations between variables were analyzed using the Chi-square test. Results: 78 patients were interviewed and a significant association between the variables to treatment adherence and Functional Literacy in Health was observed. The association between adherence to therapy and viral load levels was also significant. Conclusions: The data found show a significant association between the variables, ie, the lower the functional health literacy, the greater the difficulty to adhere to treatment.


BMJ Open ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. e004180 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonas Gordilho Souza ◽  
Daniel Apolinario ◽  
Regina Miksian Magaldi ◽  
Alexandre Leopold Busse ◽  
Flavia Campora ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kaoana Maria Vieira de Almeida ◽  
Christine Toye ◽  
Liciana Vaz de Arruda Silveira ◽  
Susan Slatyer ◽  
Keith Hill ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT. Individuals with low health literacy have less knowledge of their own health condition. Carers play a key role in older people’s activities of daily living. Objective: to evaluate the performance of carers of older people using the S-TOFHLA (Short Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults) and to identify caregiver characteristics associated with low functional health literacy. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted. The S-TOFHLA, a sociodemographic instrument, the Mini-Mental State Exam and the Patient Health Questionnaire-2 were applied to 80 carers of older patients routinely followed by doctors from the Primary Health Care Sector of the City of Botucatu, São Paulo. The multivariate analysis used an ordinal logistic regression model with test (S-TOFHLA) scores as the dependent variable. The level of statistical significance adopted was 0.05. Results: the individuals had a mean age of 54.6 (± 11.7); 27% of the carers evaluated had inadequate levels of health literacy (S-TOFHLA ≥54). A higher proportion of individuals with low education had inadequate or marginal health literacy (p<0.001). Conclusion: nearly 1/3 of the carers had marginal or inadequate levels of health literacy. These results highlight the difficulties of many carers in understanding health information.


2020 ◽  
Vol 73 (suppl 3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Piveta de Lima ◽  
Daiane Porto Gautério Abreu ◽  
Eliel de Oliveira Bandeira ◽  
Aline Neutzling Brum ◽  
Bruno Bisognin Garlet ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Objective: To assess Functional Health Literacy and the associated sociodemographic, health, information sources and health media factors in older adults with hypertension assisted at the Family Health Strategy. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional study with an exploratory-descriptive approach, carried out with a total of 264 older adults. A sociodemographic and health characterization instrument was used for the data collection, and another one that evaluated the Functional Health Literacy. For the analysis, a descriptive and inferential statistics were performed. Results: Most of the participants in the study had inadequate literacy (59.5% - 157), and the variables education, income, hospital stay and internet as a source of information are related to the averages of Functional Health Literacy. Conclusion: Knowing the Functional Health Literacy of older adults with hypertension and its associated factors can provide subsidies for the planning of health education strategies that, in fact, meet their health needs.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Babak Moeini ◽  
Masomeh Rostami-Moez ◽  
Fereshteh Besharati ◽  
Javad Faradmal ◽  
Saeed Bashirian

Background and aims: Health literacy (HL) can affect individual health, health communication and error in taking medicine. The aim of this study was to determine the level of HL and associated factors among Iranian adults. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 240 participants over 18 years of age referring to health centers in Hamadan, west of Iran in 2015 were selected by multistage random sampling. HL was assessed by the Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA). The questionnaire was completed by a trained interviewer. The independent variables were structural and intermediate social factors based on the Commission on Social Determinants of Health (CSDH). Data were analyzed by using IBM SPSS version 22. Results: Average age of the participants was 30.88 ±7.38 years and 75.4% of the them were female. The total score of HL was 64.58 ±16.71 (range: 23.82-98.98). Overall, 31.7% (n=76) of the participants had adequate HL level, 32.5% (n=78) had borderline HL level and 35.8% (n=86) had inadequate HL level. Additionally, participants with higher educational levels had higher HL scores than those with lower educational levels (P<0.001). HL score was significantly higher in males than in females (P=0.017). Conclusion: HL level seems to be inadequate among Iranian adults in the west of Iran. Moreover, enhancing social determinants such as educational level seems to increase HL. The results highlighted the necessity for change and improvement in adults’ HL.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 200-204
Author(s):  
Sana Akbar ◽  
Misbah Riaz ◽  
Lalarukh Munawar ◽  
Shazia Shakoor

Objective: The purpose of this study was to correlate the hypochondriacal concerns related to diseases with level of anxiety and depression symptoms among medical and engineering undergraduates. Study design and Setting: Cross sectional study was conducted among undergraduates of final year students of BUMDC (Bahria University Medical & Dental College) and engineering students from NUST- PNEC (NUST – Pakistan Navy Engineering College). Methodology: In this study; (99) final year medical students and (92) engineering students were recruited. In order to maintain consistency of age, students aging between 21–26 years were selected. Selected students were handed to fill the required ‘Self-administered Questionnaire’ comprising of demographic details, short health anxiety inventory, medical history and DASS (depression, anxiety and stress scale) which were completed on-site. Data was entered in SPSS version 21 and analyzed using Fisher’s exact test. P value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result: Out of 191 students in total from both the groups n=86 (45%) were females and n=105(55%) were males. There were 99 participants from MBBS and 92 from engineering. The participants’ ages ranged from 21-26 years with a mean= 23.95 (SD±2.29), both the cohorts belonged to approximately same age group. While assessing depression the responses were not very different for both the groups. When responses of depression scale were related to visits to psychiatrists or psychologist or psychotherapist a strong relationship was observed (p=0.012) in medical students cohort. Conclusion: The results of the study reflected comparable psychosocial strain at an elevated level among both student groups


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