Effect of promoting health literacy of patients with type 2 diabetes to prevent chronic kidney disease

Abstract

This quasi-experimental study with one group pre-post-test design aimed to compare health literacy, blood sugar levels, and glomerular filtration rate of patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at risk of chronic kidney disease before and after participating in health literacy activity. The sample comprises 30 type 2 diabetes patients receiving treatment at Ban Hong Hospital in Lamphun Province. The research tools used in the study were 1) a health literacy assessment questionnaire, assessed for content validity and item-objective congruence (IOC) with a value of 0.87, and 2) a health literacy promoting program, assessed for content validity and item-objective congruence (IOC) with a value of 0.94. Data analysis was conducted using statistical methods, including percentages, mean, and inferential statistics comparing the mean differences within a single-group sample (independent t-test).

The results indicated that after type 2 diabetic patients participated in the activities, health literacy scores significantly increased (p < 0.01), and blood sugar levels were significantly lower than before (p < 0.01). Moreover, the glomerular filtration rate after the activities were significantly higher than before (p < 0.01).

The recommendation is to establish collaborations with government agencies in the local area to create a network for more effective community-based health care and monitoring for type 2 diabetes patients.