The effect of health literacy promotion program on self-care behaviors and quality of life among patients with type 2 diabetes: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Abstract

Background and objectives: Type 2 diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the world today and causes many problems in patients due to severe complications. Therefore, the present study was designed and conducted to evaluate the effect of health literacy promotion program on self-care behaviors and quality of life in patients with type 2 diabetes in the city of Chaldoran city during 2018-2019. Materials and methods: This study was a randomized controlled trial that the samples were classified into two intervention groups A (n = 40) and C (n = 40) and two control groups B (n = 40) and D (n = 40) based on the four-group Solomon method. In this method, only pre-tests for intervention group A and control group B were performed among the four groups, while post-tests were applied for all groups in two time periods of three and six months. Simple random allocation method was used to select the samples. The Iranian Adult Health Literacy Assessment Questionnaire, developed by Montazeri et al., Tobert Self-Care Behavior and the DQOL Quality of Life Questionnaire, was used to collect data. The BT3000 self-analyzer was used to calculate HbA1c. Based on pre-test study, procedures were scheduled and conducted in 5 training sessions of 45 to 55 minutes. Results: According to the results of the present study, before the educational intervention, there was no statistically significant difference in knowledge, health literacy, self-care behaviors, HbA1c and quality of life in intervention groups A and control group B (p > 0.05); While 3 and 6 months after the implementation of the training program, the mean scores of knowledge, health literacy, self-care behaviors and quality of life in intervention group A significantly increased compared to control group B and HbA1c decreased (p < 0.05). Also, comparison of intervention groups A and C with control groups B and D, after the educational intervention showed that in the intervention groups, the mean scores of variables of knowledge, health literacy, self-care behaviors and quality of life increased significantly compared to control groups (p < 0.05). Also, the mean level of HbA1c in the intervention groups showed a decrease compared to the control groups (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The results of the study indicate that the implementation of coherent and organized education initiatives and the promotion of functional health literacy in patients with type 2 diabetes will help to encourage self-care actions and enhance their quality of life.