Does Health Literacy Have an Impact on Adherence to Diabetes Mellitus Treatment?

Abstract

(1) Background: Health literacy is the intersection of general literacy, health, and healthcare, but it can also incorporate elements of other types of literacies to varying degrees. The notion of literacy surfaced from the fear that individuals would require more than general literacy skills to manage the complexities of health and health system issues. There is a substantial overlap between general literacy and health literacy. Diabetes patients frequently misinterpret medication instructions, resulting in non-adherence and poor health outcomes. (2) Aim: This study sought to review the literature on the impacts of health literacy on adherence and compliance to diabetes mellitus treatment. (3) Methods: A Narrative Literature Review method was used to identify, analyze, assess, and interpret the available information on health literacy regarding prescribed medication instructions. The following databases and search engines were used to locate the literature: electronic databases, search engines, and hand searches. Fifty-three (53) quantitative and qualitative studies and two books were reviewed. (4) Result: The review pointed out the following: the importance of health literacy, the implications of health illiteracy versus medication non-adherence, factors influencing health literacy versus medication adherence, and the interventions to improve medication non-adherence. (5) Conclusion: Relatively few studies have been conducted on how people living with diabetes should carry out their treatment. Therefore, more research on how people living with diabetes carry out their treatment daily is required. (6) Contributions: This study has identified that health literacy plays a role in adherence to treatment and contributes to improved health outcomes.

Knowledge of Diabetes Mellitus and Practices Regarding Lifestyle Factors and Diabetes Management in a General Adult Population of Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

“… 45 It is very important to engage patients in their treatment plan as clients to get the maximum idea about their insight and view and perceptions about their disease and acceptability about the management of problem with their agreement. 46 , 47 Naqvi et al evaluated the medication adherence in Saudi patients with chronic illnesses by translating and validating the Arabic version of the General Medication Adherence Scale (GMAS). 48 However, we did not use this scale in our study.…”

Populations with high education levels and medication adherence

“…In the case of chronic conditions that persist over an extended period of time, health literacy can become even more important, as patients need to understand their condition(s) and potential treatment options, which, in the case of chronic conditions, will frequently include long-term medication use, lifestyle modifications, non-pharmacological therapies and self-management strategies. The impact of health literacy on medication adherence may be more pronounced in cases of chronic conditions due to the complexity and duration of their treatment plans [3]. As previously stated, medication adherence for acute pain may be influenced by its severity in a highly educated sample.…”