Health Literacy and Its Impact on Various Domains of Cardiovascular Risk Factors and Disease Outcomes in Indian Population

Abstract

Introduction: Health literacy is the degree to which individuals and groups can obtain, process, understand, evaluate, and act upon information needed to make informed health decisions. The objective of this study is to analyze the impact of health literacy on various cardiovascular disease risk factors and CVD risk factor outcomes. Methodology: This is a cross sectional observational study carried out in tertiary care Hospital involving 200 patients. Comprehensive History, physical examination and blood investigations were carried out. The functional health literacy was assessed by the tool developed by Michigan diabetes research and training centre after permission with appropriate modifications. The data collected was analyzed with appropriate statistical methods. Results: The mean age of the population was 54.95 ± 9.5 years. Neither age, nor sex influenced Health literacy in our study. Also, the formal education did not have a significant impact on health literacy (P value-0.233). Adequate health literacy was associated with healthy eating patterns (P value (Chi square test)-0.002), improved physical activity (P value< 0.001) and improved adherence to treatment regimen (P value < 0.001). Health literacy also had favorable impact on smoking (P value- 0.001), on glycemic control (P value < 0.001) and waist circumference (P Value (ANOVA)- 0.029). There was no statistically significant impact of health literacy on both systolic (P Value (One way ANOVA)-0.549) and diastolic blood pressure (P Value - 0.375) in our study. Conclusion: This study shows that Health literacy is a valuable and effective tool in addressing the major modifiable CVD risk factors. Improving Health literacy of the society will help in improving the full spectrum of essential, quality health services from health promotion to disease prevention, treatment, rehabilitation and palliative care.