The Relationship Between Health Literacy and Health Promoting Behaviors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes

Background and Objective: Health literacy and health promoting behaviors are the main factors in field of health promotion and education and play an important effect to prevent diabetes type II complications and reduce its health care costs. Therefore, this study aimed to find the relationship between health literacy and health promoting behaviors in patients with type II diabetes. Materials and Methods: This correlational study was conducted on 175 diabetic patients (20 to 65 years) from April 2020 to October 2020. Convenience sampling was used to select eligible diabetic patients who were referred to governmental diabetes clinics in Ganjavian Hospital where located in Dezful city, Iran. Data were collected by diabetic patients’ health promoting behaviors questionnaire and health literacy questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22, descriptive statistics, and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Results: The mean scores for health literacy and health promoting behaviors were 113.54 ± 25.66 and 171.7 ± 33.69, respectively. The highest scores in health promoting behaviors belonged to blood sugar control and foot control and the lowest score belonged to physical activity. There was a significant relationship between all dimensions of health promoting behaviors and health literacy (P = 0.000, r = 0.444).Conclusion: Since there is a positive relationship between health literacy and health promoting behaviors, there is a need for more efforts in teaching health promoting behaviors and publicizing selfcare. Further, adding these concepts into course plans may lead to the health improvement of community members.