Profiles of medication literacy and associated factors among young and middle-aged hypertensive patients in China: A latent profile analysis

Improving medication literacy among individuals with hypertension has emerged as a significant public health issue. However, the heterogeneity of medication literacy and its association factors among young and middle-aged patients with hypertension has not yet been fully characterized. The current study aimed to identify distinct profiles of medication literacy in these population and to examine their associated factors, with the goal of informing targeted clinical interventions. A cross-sectional study was conducted with 544 consecutively recruited these hypertensive patients from two tertiary hospitals in China between July 15 and November 15, 2024. Researchers administered five validated instruments: a Demographic and Disease-Related Characteristics Questionnaire, the Revised Chinese Medication Literacy Scale for Hypertensive Patients (C-MLSHP-R), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ). Latent profile analysis revealed three distinct profiles of medication literacy: low (35.3%), moderate (50.2%), and high (14.5%). Multivariate logistic regression further identified education level, per capita monthly household income, social support, self-efficacy, and illness perception as factors significantly associated with medication literacy (all p < 0.05). More specifically, lower education and lower income were associated with membership in the low literacy profile, while higher social support, higher self-efficacy, and more positive illness perception characterized the high literacy group. These results suggest preliminary stratified interventions approaches, including foundational education for patients with low-literacy patients, behavioral reinforcement for those with moderate literacy, and enhanced psychosocial support for socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. However, causal interpretations are precluded by the cross-sectional design, longitudinal studies are needed to validate these findings.