Health Literacy and Self-Care Among Patients Living With Chronic Kidney Disease in a Low-Resource Setting.
Racheal Nakimuli Mwesigwa, Joyce Nankumbi, Tom Denis Ngabirano and 2 others
PMID 41225309WHAT IT FOUND
Higher health literacy scores were linked with better self-care scores among 196 dialysis patients in Uganda.
Being employed was also linked with better self-care. The study cannot show literacy caused better self-care.
Key findings
01In the adjusted model, higher health literacy and being employed were associated with better self-care scores.
0250.5% of participants had high health literacy, and 53.1% had good self-care.
03Functional health literacy had the lowest mean score among health literacy subscales, and exercise had the lowest mean score among self-care subscales.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study measured health literacy and self-care at one time, so it cannot show that health literacy caused better self-care. It was done in one urban dialysis unit in Uganda, and participants were already receiving care, so it may not apply to patients with CKD who are not attending dialysis or to other settings. Health literacy and self-care were self-reported, so some answers may have been exaggerated or underreported. The tools were developed and used in other languages and settings, and local-language psychometric testing was not reported. Most participants had stage 5 disease, and many had been on dialysis for less than 12 months, limiting generalizability to earlier CKD or long-term dialysis.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving health literacy will improve self-care. The study found an association at one point in time and did not test an intervention.