Functional Health Literacy and Self-Care Behaviors Among Type 2 Diabetic Patients at a University Teaching Hospital in Kigali

Abstract

Background
 Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a significant health burden in high-income countries and emerging in sub-Sahara African countries, including Rwanda. Prevention and treatment of T2DM are imperative and need to focus on functional health literacy and self-care practices among people with diabetes.
 Objective
 To determine if functional health literacy is associated with self-care behaviors among T2DM patients.
 Method
 This study was a descriptive cross-sectional design conducted at a University Teaching Hospital in Kigali. The sample comprised of 223 T2DM patients recruited from the university outpatient department. The questionnaire was developed from two studies. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data.
 Results
 Results indicated a low-level of functional health literacy, with a wide range of scores from 6.5% to 93.5%, and a mean of 51.66 (SD 15.77).The majority of 123 (55.3%) had inadequate functional health literacy and self-care behaviors. There was a strong association between functional health literacy and self-care behaviors (p < 0.001).
 Conclusion
 The level of functional health literacy among T2DM patients needs to be increased and patients should be highly encouraged to adhere to self-care behaviors. Future research could involve an interventional study to discover the best method to educate T2DM patients.
 Keywords: Type 2 diabetes mellitus; functional health literacy; self-care behaviors; patients T2DM; sub-Saharan Africa

Diabetic health literacy and associated factors among diabetes mellitus patients on follow up at public hospitals, Bale Zone, South East Ethiopia, 2021

“…The study ascertained that high diabetic health literacy among the respondents was 30.3% (95% CI 25.4, 34.8). This finding was higher than the study conducted on the urban population of Bangladesh (24%) [ 18 ], Jamaica (13.6%) [ 2 ], Iran(18.2%) [ 19 ], and Rwanda (14.3%) [ 4 ] respectively. This discrepancy might be due to variations in the tools utilized, socio-cultural and geographical differences.…”

“…According to International Diabetes Federation report in 2019, the number of diabetic patients will rise to 700 million by 2045 [ 3 ]. In sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), DM is predicted to increase quickly, rising by 80% over 20 years, and will affect around 18.7 million Africans by the year 2025 [ 4 ].…”

Diabetic Health Literacy and Associated Factors among Diabetic Patients Attending Outpatient Department at Public Hospitals in North Shoa Zone, Amhara Region, Ethiopia, 2022

“…Educational status also signi cantly associated with diabetic health literacy. This nding is consistent with study done in Iran, Rwanda and China (27,29,34), that low level of educational status was associated with low diabetic health literacy. The result is also consistent with a study from Gondar, Ethiopia in which participants with greater educational status had a high mean score of diabetic health literacy (21).…”

“…The study nding showed that only 22.4% (95% CI 19.2, 25.9) of the participants had high diabetic health literacy level. This nding is higher than study in Iran (18.2%) (27), Mexico (17.6%) (28) and Kigali Rwanda (14.3%) (29). The discrepancy might be due to difference in tools utilized, study populations (those studies conducted in type 2 diabetic patients) and sociocultural variation.…”

Assessment of Diabetes Health Promotion Behaviors for Clients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus at Diabetic Center in Al-Diwaniya City

“…The study findings that most of participants reported poor Physical Activity level, followed by those who reported fair level, and those who reported good level. This finding is consistent with (6) who concluded that most of study participants have low level of physical activity. More than two-fifth reported good Risk Reduction level (n = 148; 41.3%), followed by those who reported fair level (n = 137; 38.3%), and those who reported poor level (n = 73; 20.4%).…”