Health Literacy and Diabetes Knowledge: A Nationwide Survey in a Multi-Ethnic Population

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health

Chee Fang Sum¹  Eng Sing Lee²  Anitha Jeyagurunathan³  Sherilyn Chang³  Chua Boon Yiang³  Mythily Subramaniam³  Fiona Devi³  Kumarasan Roystonn³  Jue Hua Lau³  Edimansyah Abdin³  Siow Ann Chong³  Janhavi Ajit Vaingankar³  P. V. Asharani³  Wang Peizhi³  Saleha Shafie³  Rob Van Dam⁴ 

[1] Admiralty Medical Centre, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore 730676, Singapore;Clinical Research Unit, National Healthcare Group Polyclinics 3 Fusionopolis Link, Singapore 138543, Singapore;Research Division, Institute of Mental Health, Singapore 539747, Singapore;Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore, Singapore 117549, Singapore;

关键词: health literacy;    diabetes knowledge;    lifestyle;    chronic diseases;    physical activity;   

DOI  :  10.3390/ijerph18179316

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

Health literacy is a key determinant of the public health and health climate of the nation. This study examined the functional health literacy of the nation, factors associated with health literacy, and its relationship with diabetes recognition. This cross-sectional survey recruited participants (N = 2895) who were 18 years and above from a population registry through disproportionate stratified sampling. The Brief Health Literacy Screen and other questionnaires were administered through face-to-face interviews, in one of the four national languages (English, Chinese, Malay or Tamil). The majority (80.5%) had adequate functional health literacy and were able to recognise symptoms of diabetes correctly (83.5% overall; 83.7% and 82.2% in those with adequate and inadequate health literacy, respectively). Those with inadequate health literacy had a higher incidence of chronic conditions (p < 0.001) compared to those with adequate health literacy in bivariate analysis. The majority of the sample had sufficient levels of physical activity (83.3%), and more than half reported an unhealthy lifestyle (57.4%). Older age, Chinese ethnicity, those who were employed, with lower education (secondary or below), and were married had significantly higher odds of inadequate health literacy. Health literacy was not associated with lifestyle, physical activity, chronic conditions and diabetes recognition. Health literacy interventions should focus on the disadvantaged social groups for improving their health literacy.

【 授权许可】

Unknown