Health Literacy Levels and Predictors Among Hospitalized Patients With Chronic Diseases

The study investigated the health literacy levels and predictors of hospitalized patients with chronic diseases.

This descriptive and cross-sectional study was conducted with 128 hospitalized patients with chronic diseases between January 2024 and June 2024 in the internal medicine clinics of a public hospital in a province of Turkey. The data were collected using the "Participant Information Form", the "Charlson Comorbidity Index" and the "Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 (THLS-32)".

The lowest health literacy score was found in chronic renal failure patients (24.82 ± 11.94), and the highest in COPD/asthma patients (32.10 ± 10.75). A significant correlation was observed between the variables of age, duration of chronic disease (years), number of medications used, frequency of visiting a healthcare institution, and frequency of hospitalization for the past year and the health literacy score (Adjusted R² = 0.314, F = 12.350, p < 0.05). Age and frequency of hospitalization were found to be significant predictors of the health literacy score (p < 0.05).

This study revealed that more than half of individuals with chronic diseases have inadequate/problematic/limited health literacy. Approximately one-fourth of individuals with chronic diseases had inadequate health literacy. In addition, the health literacy level was low in older patients, had a high frequency of visits to health care institutions, had a high frequency of hospitalization, had a high frequency of emergency unit visits, had a long duration of chronic disease (years), had a high number of medications, and had a high number of comorbid diseases for the past year. Health education should be provided to patients frequently visiting the hospital to improve their health status.