The impact of health literacy interventions on glycemic control and self‐management outcomes among type 2 diabetes mellitus: A systematic review

Abstract

Diabetes imposes an increasing health and economic burden on individuals living with it and their societies worldwide. Glycemic control is necessary to reduce morbidity and mortality of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). Self‐management is the primary tool for managing diabetes. Health literacy (HL) is the primary driver of self‐management activities. The aim of this review is to evaluate the impact of HL interventions on glycemic control and self‐management outcomes among T2DM. MEDLINE, CINAHL, PubMed, Cochrane, Scopus, and Web of Science were searched for eligible papers. Fifteen randomized controlled trials published in English between 1997 and 2021, used HL‐driven intervention, and measured the level of glycohemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) and self‐management of T2DM patients were included in this review. The findings showed that HL‐driven intervention had a positive impact on glycemic control and improved self‐management behaviors. The level of glycemic control and self‐management skills were improved through individual and telephone‐based intervention respectively. Community worker‐led interventions were effective in improvements in diabetes knowledge and self‐care behaviors; however, nurse‐led interventions were effective in glycemic control. Better glycemic control is achieved in hospital settings compared to outpatient settings. HL interventions yielded better improvement in self‐management among people with longer diabetes duration (more than 7 years). It was possible to achieve a large reduction in HbA1c level after a 3‐month intervention in hospital settings. HL‐driven interventions are effective in glycemic and diabetes self‐management outcomes.

Community Health Promotion Program (PKMRS) Self Care Management Of Diabetes Mellitus At Rsi Jemursari Surabaya

“…This fact is consistent with the results of a recent systematic review showing that health promotion interventions are positively correlated with the increased of knowledge and also controlling the glycemic level. This could be explained by the fact that nurses tend to be able to understand the cirsumstances, linguistic, and socioeconomic backgrounds with patients in order to provide interventions [9]. A study by Ramadhani et al (2019) shown that the more effective the self-care, the lower the HbA1c and the fasting blood glucose.…”

“…03 2023 ISSN. 2808-4608 a relationship between BMI and HbA1c, patient with higher BMI tend to have higher HbA1c levels [9]. Self-care management is an essential tool for patient with diabetes to manage.…”

“…Self-care management diabetes focuses on healthy eating, physical activity or exercise, blood sugar monitoring, adherence to medication, problem-solving, and healthy coping mechanisms. Self-care management is associated with improved glycemic control, increased of quality of life, and reduce the diabetes complications [9].…”

The relationship between health literacy and blood sugar control in rural areas among diabetes patients

“…Diabetes patients with lower health literacy, due to limited reading and mathematical abilities, are more likely to have suboptimal blood sugar control and an increased risk of diabetes complications (9). Conversely, a higher level of health literacy can effectively control blood sugar levels, manage complications, and enhance quality of life for diabetes patients (10). The level of health literacy may vary among different diabetes patients based on factors such as cognitive level and treatment stage (11).…”