Nutrition literacy mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and eating behavior in young tuberculosis patients: A cross-sectional study

Objective: To assess the associations between self-efficacy, nutrition literacy and eating behavior, and to examine if nutrition literacy mediates the relationship between self-efficacy and eating behavior in young tuberculosis patients.Methods: This cross-sectional study used a convenience sampling strategy to select 230 young tuberculosis pa-tients at the Second Hospital of Nanjing (Public Health Medical Center of Nanjing), China, from June 2022 to August 2022. The data were collected using a demographic data form, the Eating Behavior Scale, the Food and Nutrition Literacy Questionnaire and the Tuberculosis Self-Efficacy Scale. Descriptive statistics, Pearson bivariate correlation analysis, Pearson partial correlation analysis, hierarchical multiple regression, and mediation anal-ysis were conducted in the study. Results: The mean self-efficacy score for young tuberculosis patients was 92.56 (SD = 9.89, range = 21 -105). The average nutrition literacy score for young tuberculosis patients was 68.24(SD = 6.75, range = 0 -100). The bivariate correlation analysis and partial correlation analysis found that self-efficacy was positively corre-lated with nutrition literacy (P < 0.01). The regression analysis showed that self-efficacy (F = 5.186, & beta; = 0.233, P < 0.001)and nutrition literacy (F = 7.749, & beta; = 0.545, P < 0.001) significantly predicted eating behavior. The three dimensions of nutrition literacy including nutritional knowledge (mediation effect ratio = 13.1%, 95% CI = -0.089;-0.005), preparing food (mediation effect ratio = 17.4%, 95 %CI = 0.011; 0.077) and eating (mediation effect ratio = 54.7%, 95 %CI = 0.070; 0.192) mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and eating behavior in young tuberculosis patients.Conclusion: Nutrition literacy mediated the relationship between self-efficacy and eating behavior. To promote healthy eating behavior among young tuberculosis patients, interventions aimed at improving self-efficacy and nutrition literacy should be conducted.