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Building a House of Skills—A Study of Functional Health Literacy and Numeracy among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Hungary

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  • Andrea Klinovszky

    (Department of Health Economics, University of Szeged, 6724 Szeged, Hungary)

  • Orsolya Papp-Zipernovszky

    (Department of Psychology, University of Szeged, 6722 Szeged, Hungary)

  • Norbert Buzás

    (Department of Health Economics, University of Szeged, 6724 Szeged, Hungary)

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to explore functional health literacy (FHL) and numeracy skills in an insulin-treated, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patient population, and their impact on diabetes self-care activities. A non-experimental, cross-sectional quantitative design was used for this study. The sample consisted of 102 T2DM patients on insulin therapy, including 42 males and 60 females, with a mean age of 64.75 years ( SD = 9.180) and an average diabetes duration of 10.76 years ( SD = 6.702). Independent variables were sociodemographic variables (e.g., age, educational level, etc.) and diabetes and health-related factors (e.g., duration of diabetes (years), the frequency of blood glucose testing/day, etc.). For this study, the participants completed the reading comprehension exercise from the Short Test of Functional Health Literacy (S-TOFHLA) and the Shortened Version of the Diabetes Numeracy Test (DNT-15), which specifically evaluates the numeracy skills of patients living with diabetes. The associations between the variables were examined with Spearman’s rank correlation. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to examine whether measured FHL skills impact diabetes self-care activities. We found that DNT-15 test ( β = 0.174, t (96) = 2.412, p < 0.018) had significant effect on the frequency of blood glucose testing/day. Moreover, the problem areas for patients with T2DM mostly included multi-step calculations according to food label interpretations, and adequate insulin dosage based on current blood glucose levels and carbohydrate intake. The results of regression analyses and Spearman’s rank correlation indicated that limited FHL and diabetes numeracy skills not only influenced the participants’ behaviors related to self-management, but they also affected their health outcomes. Thus, besides the personalization of insulin treatment, it is indispensable to provide more precise information on different types of insulin administration and more refined educational materials based on medical nutrition therapy.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Klinovszky & Orsolya Papp-Zipernovszky & Norbert Buzás, 2021. "Building a House of Skills—A Study of Functional Health Literacy and Numeracy among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes in Hungary," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(4), pages 1-14, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:4:p:1547-:d:494531
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Lindsay C. Kobayashi & Jane Wardle & Michael S. Wolf & Christian von Wagner, 2016. "Aging and Functional Health Literacy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 71(3), pages 445-457.
    2. Nutbeam, Don, 2008. "The evolving concept of health literacy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(12), pages 2072-2078, December.
    3. Laura M. Mackey & Catherine Doody & Erik L. Werner & Brona Fullen, 2016. "Self-Management Skills in Chronic Disease Management," Medical Decision Making, , vol. 36(6), pages 741-759, August.
    4. Palumbo, Rocco & Annarumma, Carmela & Adinolfi, Paola & Musella, Marco & Piscopo, Gabriella, 2016. "The Italian Health Literacy Project: Insights from the assessment of health literacy skills in Italy," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(9), pages 1087-1094.
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