Health literacy and self-efficacy of the elderly with diabetes

AimThis study aimed to investigate the relationship between health literacy and self-efficacy in the elderly with diabetes.MethodThis cross-sectional study was conducted on 375 diabetic elderly members from a diabetes association, in Iran. Self-efficacy and health literacy questionnaires were used. The Pearson test was used to determine the relationship between self-efficacy and health literacy and linear regression was used to predict self-efficacy by health literacy.ResultsElderly men and women with diabetes showed a significant difference in terms of health literacy (P = 0.003). People over the age of 70 had a lower level of literacy (P < 0.05). The highest and lowest self-efficacy in the elderly patients were related to taking medications (89.75 +/- 17.56) and physical activity (71.38 +/- 24.40), respectively. The results of stepwise linear regression showed that health literacy is a predictor of self-efficacy in the diabetic elderly (r(2) = 0.55, P < 0.001).ConclusionHealth literacy is directly related to self-efficacy in older people with diabetes.