The Relationship between Health Literacy and Good Serum Lipid Level of the Population at Risk for Ischemic Heart Disease in The Northeast, Thailand

Abstract

This cross-sectional analytic research study was designed to determine the relationship between health literacy and good serum lipid levels in the population at risk for ischemic heart disease. Data were collected from October 2020 to January 2021. A sample of 510 at-risk people with type 2 diabetes and/or hypertension who visited four health promotion hospitals in the Northeast was selected by the multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Data were collected using questionnaires on general information, clinical information and health literacy for prevention of ischemic heart disease (HL). Descriptive statistics for categorical data were analyzed using logistic regression and generalized linear mixed model. The results showed that the mean scores of the samples’ six categories of HL regarding the ischemic heart disease prevention skills namely Access, Cognitive, Communication, Self-Management, Media Literacy, and Decision were at a moderate level. In addition, the those who had high cognitive ability (adjusted OR =3.43, 95% CI=1.82 to 6.47), high communication ability (adjusted OR =3.05, 95% CI=1.41 to 6.59), high media literacy (adjusted OR =7.02, 95% CI=3.40 to 14.50) had statistically significant higher level of good serum lipid levels than those who had low and moderate levels (p <.05). In conclusion, 73.92% of the study participants had poor serum lipid levels and also had moderate levels in the six skills of HL. Based on the findings of this study, health care providers should promote HL for prevention of ischemic heart disease in people who are at high risk.