Health literacy and cardiovascular complications in people with type 2 diabetes

Background. Cardiovascular complications are the main causes of death for type 2 diabetes. Their relationship to sod economic factors, such as health literacy, is not well known. Objectives. To study the relationship between health literacy and cardiovascular complications (acute myocardial infarction, cereb vascular accident, transient ischemic attack and ischemic heart disease) in type 2 diabetes patients and to understand the relationship of type 2 diabetes mellitus associated cardiovascular disease with empowerment and therapy adherence. Material and methods. A cross-sectional study with a convenience sample of people with type 2 diabetes in central Portugal. Socio-demographic and clinical characteristics (blood pressure, LDL cholesterol, hemoglobin A(1c) and history of cardiovascular diseases) were collected, and validated scales were applied to assess health literacy, adherence to therapy, powerment and quality of life. Bivariate inferential analysis between literacy, other variables and cardiovascular diseases, with subsequent Logistic Regression, was performed. Results. A sample of n = 202, mean age 68.11 +/- 10.19 years, n = 116 (57.4%) males was studied Higher health literacy was significantly associated with a lower prevalence of cardiovascular diseases (p =0.015). This relationship was independentofihe emaining variables (OR = 0.947; 95% CI: 0.913-0.982; p= 0.003). Significant relationships were demonstrated between cardiovasculardisease and quality of life (p = 0.001), adherence to total therapy (p = 0.045), general diet (p = 0.002), physical activity (p = 0.027), age (p = 0.004) and LDL cholesterol (p = 0.036). Conclusions. The independent relationship between health literacy and cardiovascular disease in people with type 2 diabetes, when confirmed, will indicate that health literacy promotion acts as an important health policy measure to be adopted.