Visual Abstract
Objective: To examine the pathways of health literacy, empowerment, self-care activities to quality of life and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) in patients with type 2 diabetes.
Methods: In this cross‐sectional study, 310 patients with type 2 diabetes were recruited from four hospitals in China through convenience sampling. EpiData 3.1 was utilized to establish the database. All data analyses were conducted using SPSS 25.0, except for the structural equation modeling analysis, which was conducted using Amos 26.0. Significant levels were set at p<0.05.
Results: Significant direct pathways were identified from health literacy to empowerment (β=0.647, p<0.001), and self-care activities (β=0.487, p<0.001); from empowerment to quality of life (β=-0.288, p<0.001), and self-care activities (β=0.613, p<0.001); from self-care activities to HbA1c (β=-0.134, p=0.028). Indirect pathways were identified from health literacy to quality of life (β=-0.186, p=0.004) via empowerment; from health literacy (β=-0.118, p=0.046) or empowerment (β=-0.082, p=0.045) to HbA1c via self-care activities.
Conclusions: This study indicated that empowerment is crucial to the link between health literacy and quality of life. Both health literacy and empowerment are significant factors in improving glycemic control in patients with type 2 diabetes through self-care activities.
X. Zhao: None. L. Cheng: None.
