Health literacy, behavioral and psychosocial characteristics in coronary artery patients

Objective: To investigate health literacy, behavioral and psychosocial characteristics in coronary artery patients. Methods: Between March 2019 and 2020 years, 275 coronary artery patients aged ≥50 years were included in the study. Turkish Health Literacy Scale-32 and Beck Depression Inventory were used to collect the data. Results: General health literacy index score was 31.7 and the prevalence of limited health literacy was 59.3%. Adequate health literacy was 2.8 fold higher in the 50-64 age group, 3.1 fold higher among men, 3.4 fold higher among married and 5.3 fold higher among those who believed in the necessity of individual protective practices ( P <0.05). Significant differences were also found in different working status, living places, perceived economic situation, perceived general health status, comorbidities, family history of coronary artery disease, angiography history, material skills on reading and understanding, level of depressive syptom, commitment to individual protective practices health check-ups, utilizing health services, cigarette and alcohol use, and exercise and nutrition between limited and adequate health literacy ( P <0.05). Logistic regression analysis showed that adequate health literacy was significantly higher among younger patients ( OR : 2.81; 95% CI : 1.46-5.62), male gender ( OR : 3.10; 95% CI : 1.46-6.58), married ( OR : 3.42; 95% CI : 1.39-8.44) and those with belief in individual protective practices ( OR : 5.3; 95% CI : 1.93-14.96). Conclusions: Health literacy is poor among coronary artery patients and behavioral and psychosocial variables differ with health literacy levels. To keep cardiovascular health among these patients, health literacy-based interventions should be adopted in coronary artery clinics, especially for risky population.