Low Health Literacy Is Associated with Poorer Physical and Mental Health-Related Quality of Life in Dialysed Patients

Ivana Skoumalova (), Andrea Madarasova Geckova, Jaroslav Rosenberger, Maria Majernikova, Peter Kolarcik, Daniel Klein, Andrea F. de Winter, Jitse P. van Dijk and Sijmen A. Reijneveld
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Ivana Skoumalova: Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Andrea Madarasova Geckova: Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Jaroslav Rosenberger: Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Maria Majernikova: FMC-Dialysis Services Slovakia, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Peter Kolarcik: Department of Health Psychology and Research Methodology, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Daniel Klein: Institute of Mathematics, Faculty of Science, P. J. Safarik University, Jesenna 5, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Andrea F. de Winter: Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Jitse P. van Dijk: Graduate School Kosice Institute for Society and Health, Faculty of Medicine, P.J. Safarik University, Trieda SNP 1, 040 01 Kosice, Slovakia
Sijmen A. Reijneveld: Department of Community & Occupational Medicine, University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-9

Abstract: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is an important health indicator in chronic diseases like kidney diseases. Health literacy (HL) may strongly affect HRQoL, but evidence is scarce. Therefore, we assessed the associations of HL with HRQoL in dialysed patients. We performed a cross-sectional study in 20 dialysis clinics across Slovakia (n = 542 patients, mean age = 63.6 years, males = 60.7%). We assessed the association of categorised HL (low, moderate, high) with the SF36 physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS) using generalised linear models adjusted for age, gender, education, and comorbidity (Charlson Comorbidity Index, CCI). We found significant associations of HL with PCS and MCS in dialysed patients, adjusted for age, gender, education, and CCI. Low-HL patients had a lower PCS (B = −3.27, 95%-confidence interval, CI: −5.76/−0.79) and MCS (B = −6.05, 95%-CI: −8.82/−3.29) than high-HL patients. Moderate-HL patients had a lower MCS (B = −4.26, 95%-CI: −6.83/−1.69) than high-HL patients. HL is associated with physical and mental HRQoL; this indicates that dialysed patients with lower HL deserve specific attention and tailored care to have their HRQoL increased.

Keywords: health-related quality of life; mental component score; physical component score; health literacy; dialysed patients (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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