The effect of health literacy promotion program on quality of life of gout patients in Huai Thap Than hospital, Sisaket province

Abstract

This study employed a quasi-experimental research design with a two-group comparison between a control group and an experimental group. The objective was to examine the effects of a health literacy promotion program on health literacy and quality of life among patients with gout at Huai Thap Than Hospital, Sisaket Province.

The sample consisted of 60 gout patients who received services at Huai Thap Than Hospital, selected using purposive sampling. Participants were divided into two groups: a control group (n = 30) receiving usual care and an experimental group (n = 30) receiving the health literacy promotion program. The study was conducted from January to June 2025. Research instruments included a health literacy promotion program, a general information record form, a health literacy assessment questionnaire, and the WHOQOL-BREF quality of life questionnaire. Data were analyzed using frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and independent t-tests to compare mean scores between the two groups, with the level of statistical significance set at 0.05.

The findings revealed that the mean health literacy score of the experimental group (Mean = 2.93, SD = 0.64) was lower than that of the control group (Mean = 3.20, SD = 0.61), with a mean difference of -0.27; however, this difference was not statistically significant (t = 1.67, p = 0.100). Meanwhile, the mean quality of life score of the experimental group (Mean = 2.43, SD = 0.50) was higher than that of the control group (Mean = 2.27, SD = 0.45), with a mean difference of 0.16, though this difference was also not statistically significant (t = 1.30, p = 0.198).

The findings indicate that the health literacy promotion program implemented in this study did not produce statistically significant differences in either health literacy or quality of life compared to usual care. Nevertheless, the higher quality of life score observed in the experimental group suggests that the program has potential for further development. These findings can serve as baseline information for future research in designing more continuous, context-specific programs supported by longer-term evaluation.