To effectively promote health-related quality of life in vulnerable older people, medication adherence and health literacy of patients should be assessed, and patient-centred intervention strategies that consider their individual differences should be developed.
Purpose: This study aimed to assess the levels of and relationships among health literacy, knowledge about diabetes, and self-care activities in the Korean low-income elderly with diabetes and to identify factors influencing the self-care activities of this vulnerable population. Methods: This study surveyed a total of 151 low-income elderly patients with diabetes registered at 16 Visiting Health Care Services in B City, Korea. Health literacy was measured with the Newest Vital Sign. Diabetes knowledge was measured with the Diabetes Knowledge Test. The Summary of Diabetes Self-care Activities Questionnaire was used to assess diabetes self-care activities. A stepwise multiple regression analysis was conducted to identify significant factors influencing diabetes self-care activities in these patients. Results: In the regression model, diabetes knowledge (β=.322, p<.001), exercise (β=.337, p<.001), and experiences of diabetes education (β=.241, p=.001) were significantly associated with increased diabetes self-care activities in low-income elderly patients with diabetes when gender, education, health literacy, and subjective health state were controlled. Conclusion: To improve diabetes self-care activities in the low-income elderly with diabetes, it is important to develop a customized program considering their knowledge, exercise, and diabetes education experience.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.