Simone Henriques de Castro|Gilberto N. O. Brito|Mar??lia B. Gomes
Health literacy skills in type 2 diabetes mellitus outpatients from an university-affiliated hospital in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro|Universidade Federal Fluminense|Instituto de Saúde|Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro
type 2 diabetes mellitus common metabolic disorder considerable impact quality life treatment dm2 complex adherence treatment requires sophisticated cognition includes literacy skills health literacy skills crosssectional nonrandom sample 164 dm2 outpatients diabetes unit hospital universitrio pedro ernesto state university rio de janeiro evaluated short version test functional health literacy adults stofhla procedures available spss package used data analysis fourteen 164 patients 85 completely illiterate therefore assessed remaining 150 patients 75 men 75 women participants study data showed 110 733 participants adequate health literacy skills 17 113 marginal skills 23 153 inadequate skills moreover older participants performed worse younger patients addition caucasian multiethnic participants performed better afrobrazilians furthermore participants higher educational occupational levels outperformed lower levels however age education ethnic group occupation contributed significantly independently health literacy study showed almost quarter participants illiterate inadequate health literacy skills therefore results indicate need development health care instructions properly calibrated health literacy skills dm2 patients