Abstract:

Objective To explore how tuberculosis (TB) patients’ health literacy plays a role in the correlation between the knowledge level on control and prevention of TB and the social support. Methods A total of 225 pulmonary tuberculosis patients hospitalized in the Public Health Clinical Center of Chengdu from May to June in 2019 were selected as study subjects with the median age (quartile, M(Q₁,Q₃)) of 45.0 (25.0, 60.0) (range, 18-84 years), 151 (67.1%) were male and 74 (32.9%) were female. Core knowledge of TB prevention and control (including main symptoms and severity, precautions, transmission routes, public policies), the health literacy (such as the ability of knowledge acquisition, communicative interaction, the willingness to improve health and provide economic support), and social support level (objective & subjective support and their availability) were investigated. Results The core knowledge score (M(Q₁,Q₃)) of the 225 subjects was 30.0 (20.0,40.0), and the awareness rate was 61.0% (686/1125). The health literacy score was 85.84±15.14, it showed that 26.2% (59/225) of TB patients had health literacy, while 73.8% (166/225) did not. The social support score (M(Q₁,Q₃)) was 36.0 (31.0, 43.0), with 52.4% (118/225) of the TB patients in the middle level and 47.6% (107/225) in the lower level. Using Spearman correlation analyses, the score of health literacy was positively correlated with the score of TB control core knowledge (r=0.947, t=38.818, P<0.01) and the social support score (r=0.485, t=23.027, P<0.01). There was a positive correlation between core knowledge of TB control and social support (r=0.469, t=19.890, P<0.01). Health literacy was the intermediary factor between core knowledge of TB control and social support (β(95%CI)=0.415 (0.282-0.550)). Conclusion Health literacy played a positive mediation role between the core knowledge of TB control and social support, indicating that when trying to improve the social support of TB patients with low level knowledge of TB prevention and control, improving the health literacy should also be enhanced.

Key words: Tuberculosis, Health literacy, Social support, Questionnaires, Data interpretation,statistical