بررسی رابطه سواد سلامت با تبعیت از رژیم درمانی و کیفیت زندگی مرتبط با سلامت درسالمندان مبتلا به دیابت ساکن جامعه

Background and purpose: Health literacy can be defined as the ability to read, understand and act on health advice. The aim of this study was to determine health literacy and its relationship with medical adherence and health-related quality of life in diabetic community-residing elderly. Material and Methods: This descriptive- analytical study was conducted on 300 elderly diabetics (60 years old and older) who referred to health centers in Mashhad. Multi-stage stratified cluster sampling is used. Data were collected using Brief-TOFHLA health literacy, standardized health-related quality of life, HbA1c, BMI and MMAS medication adherence questionnaires. Furthermore, diet and exercise adherence questionnaire was developed by the researchers. Data analyses were done by using One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), T-student test, and Pearson's correlation test using SPSS (Version 21). Results: In this study, 70% of elderly with diabetes had inadequate health literacy. Older adult with sufficient health literacy had a higher-quality of life. There was a significant relationship between health literacy and physical and psychological dimensions of quality of life (P0.05). The individuals with adequate health literacy had significantly higher medication, diet and exercise adherence with lower HbA1c (P0.05). Conclusion: According to the relationship between health literacy with medical adherence and elderly quality of life, there is a need to pay attention to health literacy in health promotion programs.