Letramento em saúde quanto ao hábito etilista entre pessoas com diabetes mellitus: desenvolvimento de um instrumento e identificação de fatores associados

Abstract

Alcoholic habits, at least on a social level, are widespread among people with and without diabetes. However, there are important effects of alcohol on the progression and complications of diabetes such as difficulty in controlling blood glucose, increased risk of impotence, peripheral neuropathy, strokes and possibly retinopathy. Complications can be prevented by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and self-care. Health literacy is defined as a set of interrelated personal skills that are disseminated through an open dialogue between health professionals, users and policy makers, with the aim of developing strategies to facilitate daily care. The objective was to evaluate the level of health literacy regarding the drinking habit among people with diabetes, using a specific instrument. A methodological study conducted among people with diabetes enrolled in the Family Health Strategy and consisting of the following steps: development of the HLDH; verification of content validity by a committee of judges; pre-test (n=20); reliability estimation (n=62): Cronbach’s alpha (CA), Cohen’s kappa (K) and Intraclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC), satisfactory results (≥0.60); estimate of concurrent validity (n=212); interpretability of scores (n=212): range from 0 to 18, with the cut-off point being ≤ 14 (HLDH inadequate). Hypothesis test (n=215). The SPSS program was used for statistical analyses. HLDH presented dynamic and adequate application, showing relevance to its content and the proposed construct. The 18 words presented K > 0.60, CA=0.82 and ICC=0.91. There was a correction of the HLDH with education (rs=0.537; p=0.000). Lower levels of health literacy regarding the drinking habit were present in 31.2% (n=67) of the participants. The variables sex (men, OR=0.46; 95%CI=0.23-0.94; p=0.032), schooling (elementary school, OR=7.00; 95%CI=2.55-19.20; p<0.001; illiterate, OR=28.06; 95%CI=4.40-178.83; p<0.001) and expenses with medication (OR=2.27; 95%CI= 1.14-4.50; p=0.019). HLDH was considered validated, reliable, and with good interpretability. It can be a useful instrument to assess the levels of Health Literacy in relation to the Drinking Habit among people with diabetes, especially due to its quick application and easy understanding. Lower levels of LSHE were associated with female gender, low level of education and spending on diabetes related medications.