Examining the Association between diabetic health literacy and blood glucose control among Patients with Diabetes at Public Health Facilities in Bishoftu Town, Oromia, Ethiopia 2023/2024: Unmatched Case-Control Study.
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Date
2024-06
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Addis Ababa University
Abstract
Background: Uncontrolled blood glucose levels in most diabetes patients result from poor
diabetes health literacy and are linked with significant mortality and morbidity. Diabetes patients
with poor diabetic health literacy may have inadequate glycemic control likely to experience
complications from the disease. However, insufficient studies support such a hypothesis in most
low-income countries. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to investigate the link between
diabetic health literacy and blood glucose levels in diabetic patients.
Methods: A health facility-based case-control study was carried out in Bishoftu town, involving
all individuals diagnosed with DM who began follow-up. Cases included diabetic patients with
uncontrolled blood glucose, while controls consisted of diabetic patients with controlled blood
glucose. The sample size was determined using Epi-Info, comprising 94 cases and 276 controls.
A structured, interview-administered questionnaire was utilized to gather data. The data analysis
was conducted using STATA version 17. Descriptive analysis was conducted using simple
frequencies and cross-tabulations to examine sociodemographic characteristics and other
independent variables. Bivariate data analysis checked the correlation between diabetic health
literacy and other independent variables against blood glucose level. Moreover, a multivariable
analysis using binary logistic regression was conducted to identify independent predictors of blood
glucose levels.
Results: In this study, average age (SD) to the cases and the controls were 48 (17.2) and 47 (17.3),
respectively. Diabetic patients with uncontrolled blood glucose levels were 4.7 times more likely
to have an impact on low health literacy than patients with controlled blood glucose levels (AOR
= 4.7, 95%CI: 2.16, 10.24) and 2.9 times more likely to have an impact on moderate health literacy
than patients with controlled blood glucose levels (AOR = 2.9, 95%CI: 1.37, 6.02), Patients who
exercised physically (AOR= 0.41, 95%CI: 0.21, 0.78), good treatment adherence (AOR= 0.44,
95%CI: 0.22, 0.87) were statistically significant factor with uncontrolled blood glucose level.
Conclusion: The study conducted on the link among health literacy of diabetes and blood glucose
control levels among diabetic patients was identified several factors such as low and moderate
diabetic health literacy older age, engagement in physical activities and good adherence to
treatment were associated with achieving the target of blood glucose level control.
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Keywords
Diabetes, diabetic health literacy, blood glucose control, Ethiopia