The impact of health literacy on quality of life in patients with chronic diseases

Jiali Zhang¹Yinhai Chen²Yuanwei Lu²Xuan Jiang¹Congxuan Lin²Xiong Ke^2*

• ¹School of Public Health, North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, Shanxi Province, China
• ²North Sichuan Medical College, Nanchong, China

Objective: We aimed to assess quality of life in patients with chronic diseases and identify influencing factors, as well as to explore the relationship between health literacy and quality of life in this population.We used health literacy and EuroQol 5-Dimensions 5-Level version survey data from chronically ill patients in the 2023 Sichuan Province Chinese Resident Psychological and Behavioral Survey Study. We analyzed factors influencing quality of life using a tobit regression model and examined the relationship between quality of life and health literacy using canonical correlation analysis.The health utility value for quality of life among 611 patients with chronic diseases was 0.95 (0.86-1), with an EuroQol Visual Analog Scale score of 71.04 ± 16.21. Regression analysis revealed that health literacy (P=0.004), sex (P=0.015), body mass index (P=0.047), occupation (P=0.012), marital status (P=0.026), debt status (P=0.001), comorbidity (P<0.001) and living alone (P=0.033) were significantly associated with quality of life. Canonical correlation analysis showed a correlation of 0.269 (P<0.001) between health literacy and quality of life, primarily related to factors such as treatment information, mental health, and vaccine type, which were correlated with pain or discomfort.: Enhancing health literacy can positively impact the life quality of patients with chronic diseases. Key elements of health literacy interventions should include evaluating treatment information, accessing resources to address mental health concerns, and determining individual vaccine needs. Health education strategies should be developed to improve both health literacy and quality of life for patients with chronic diseases. Retired 0.94(0.73~1.00) Unemployed 0.94(0.78~1.00) Education Primary or below 0.94(0.81~1.00) 15.545 <0.001 Junior high school 1.00(0.89~1.00) High school or above 0.95(0.88~1.00) Age(years) <30 0.95(0.89~1.00) 24.833 <0.001 30-44 0.98(0.89~1.00) 45-59 1.00(0.89~1.00) ≥60 0.94(0.76~1.00) Household registration Non-rural 1.00(0.89~1.00) -4.601 <0.001 Rural 0.94(0.81~1.00) Marital status Unmarried 0.94(0.88~1.00) 17.764 <0.001 Married 0.95(0.88~1.00) Other 0.89(0.73~1.00) Living alone No 0.94(0.73~1.00) -3.108 0.002 Yes 0.95(0.88~1.00) Debt No 0.95(0.86~1.00) -1.33 0.184 Yes 0.94(0.87~1.00) Per capita income(RMB) ≤3000 0.94(0.78~1.00) 21.379 <0.001 3001-6000 0.95(0.88~1.00) ＞6000 1.00(0.94~1.00) Drinking No 0.94(0.85~1.00) 8.595 0.014 Quit drinking 0.90(0.78~1.00) Yes 1.00(0.89~1.00) Smoking No 0.94(0.85~1.00) 2.118 0.347 Quit smoking 0.94(0.79~1.00) Yes 0.95(0.89~1.00) Comorbidity No 1.00(0.89~1.00) -6.984 <0.001 Yes 0.89(0.73~1.00