Michael Quartuccio|Eleanor M. Simonsick|Susan Langan|TAMARA A. HARRIS|Rebecca L. Sudore|Roland J. Thorpe|Caterina Rosano|Felicia Hill-Briggs|Sherita Hill Golden|Rita R. Kalyani
The relationship of health literacy to diabetes status differs by sex in older adults
Johns Hopkins University|National Institute on Aging|Johns Hopkins University|National Institute on Aging|San Francisco VA Medical Center|University of California, San Francisco|Johns Hopkins University|University of Pittsburgh|Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University|Johns Hopkins University
lower health literacy associated higher rates mortality chronic disease remains unclear whether health literacy associated diabetes andor hyperglycemia older adults relationship differs sexwe performed crosssectional analysis 2510 older adults health aging body composition health abc study rapid estimate adult literacy medicine realm measurement diabetes status available sexstratified logistic regression models used analyze relationship health literacy categories low medium high diabetes status adjusting key covariates secondary analyses examined relationship health literacy glycemic markers a1c fasting blood glucoseamong participants health abc cohort 429 diabetes mean age 76years old 45 female men diabetes commonly low health literacy levels men without diabetes 101 versus 93 p002 similar results seen among women 147 versus 61 p001 model adjusting age race income education bmi smoking alcohol use women low versus high health literacy twofold higher likelihood diabetes or22 95 ci 1143 significant relationship observed men progressively lower categories health literacy associated higher ageadjusted mean a1c fasting blood glucose levels women p trend 001 menin large ethnically diverse sample communitydwelling older adults lower health literacy level related greater likelihood diabetes higher a1c fasting blood glucose levels womenbut menafter adjusting age race demographic lifestyle factors future studies needed assess mechanisms underlying relationship interventions improve health literacy effective reducing burden diabetes particularly women