The Effects of the Level of Health Literacy and Self-care Activities on Quality of Life of Patients with Diabetes in Korea

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#The purpose of this study was to identify levels of health literacy and examine the effects of health literacy and self-care activities on quality of life of patients with type 2 diabetes. @*Methods@#A cross sectional design was used. Questionnaires were administered via the Gallup to 500 Korean patients with diabetes in Seoul and Gyeonggi areas. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, independent t tests, one way ANOVA, and hierarchical regression. @*Results@#Of 500 patients, 12.4% (n=62) indicated ‘inadequate’ health literacy, and 43.8% (n=219) reported ‘marginal’ or ‘adequate’ health literacy. Levels of health literacy significantly differed by demographic characteristics, self-care activities, and quality of life. The factors that had a significant effect on quality of life included inadequate health literacy (B=3.63, p=.042) and marginal health literacy (B=3.84, p=.002); however, no significant relationship was found for self-care activities (B=0.01, p=.827). @*Conclusion@#The results of this study demonstrate a need for further research with large samples using Korean Health Literacy Scale for Diabetes Mellitus to establish the relationships between health literacy, diabetes self-care activities, and quality of life.