Health Literacy and self-care among visually impaired people with type 1 diabetes in Denmark

The aim of this study was to investigate health literacy and self-care among visually impaired people with type 1 diabetes in Denmark.

Survey data from 1425 Danes with type 1 diabetes were categorised in two groups according to visual status: visually impaired ( n = 38) and sighted ( n = 1387). Using the Health Literacy Questionnaire and the Summary of Diabetes Self-Care Activities Scale, health literacy and self-care activities were assessed. Visually impaired respondents were compared to sighted respondents using t-tests and chi-squared tests.

Visually impaired people were older, had higher diabetes duration and were more likely to live alone. Also they had a significant lower level of health literacy on two key dimensions of health literacy ('Ability to find good health information' and 'Understanding health information well enough to know what to do'), they monitored blood sugar less frequently than people that were sighted but had better self-care regarding feet examination.

Visually impaired people with type 1 diabetes are less able to find and understand health information than sighted people with type 1 diabetes. Our findings indicate need for interventions to promote better self-care and health literacy among visually impaired people with diabetes.