1. Health Literacy and Patient-Reported Outcomes: A Cross-Sectional Study of Underserved English- and Spanish-Speaking Patients With Type 2 Diabetes.
- Author
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Hahn EA, Burns JL, Jacobs EA, Ganschow PS, Garcia SF, Rutsohn JP, and Baker DW
- Subjects
- Adult, Cross-Sectional Studies, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 psychology, Female, Health Behavior, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Self Care psychology, Self Efficacy, Vulnerable Populations psychology, Vulnerable Populations statistics & numerical data, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 therapy, Health Literacy statistics & numerical data, Health Services Needs and Demand, Multilingualism, Patient Outcome Assessment
- Abstract
This study examined associations between patient characteristics, health behaviors, and health outcomes and explored the role of health literacy as a potential mediator of outcomes. English- and Spanish-speaking adults with Type 2 diabetes used a bilingual multimedia touchscreen to complete questionnaires. The behavioral model for vulnerable populations guided multivariable regression and mediation testing. Dependent variables were diabetes self-care, health status, and satisfaction with communication. Independent variables included sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, health literacy, health beliefs, and self-efficacy. Spanish speakers had lower health literacy and poorer physical, mental, and overall health compared to English speakers. Higher health literacy was associated with less social support for diet, fewer diet and medication barriers, younger age, higher diabetes knowledge, and talking with health care professionals to get diabetes information. In contrast to expectations, health literacy was not associated with diabetes self-care, health status, or satisfaction with communication, and it did not mediate the effects of other factors on these outcomes. Diabetes self-efficacy was significantly associated with health behaviors and outcomes. The association between Spanish language preference and poorer health was not mediated by this group's lower health literacy. Increasing health-related self-efficacy might be an important clinical strategy for improving outcomes in underserved patients with Type 2 diabetes.
- Published
- 2015
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