Determinants of Juvenile Diabetic Patients' Health Literacy

Abstract

Background: Childhood and adolescence are crucial developmental phases characterized by important physical, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral changes. Chronic disease represents an additional challenge. Diabetes mellitus (DM) in children and adolescents is becoming an increasingly important public health concern throughout the world. Diabetic children have to cope with the disease and participate in self-care activities, they must be health literate. Therefore, the present study aimed to assess the determinants of juvenile diabetic patients' health literacy. Subjects and methods: A cross-sectional analytical design was used, where 20 juvenile diabetic patients were enrolled using convenience and snowball sampling technique from social media groups (Facebook). Four tools were used to collect data they were: An Interview Questionnaire composed of two parts (Socio- Demographic Data & Diabetes Knowledge Test), Diabetes Self-Care Behaviors Questionnaire, Diabetes Numeracy Test [DNT 15], and Health Literacy Questionnaire included (Health Literacy Measure for Adolescents [HELMA] & Literacy Assessment Test for Diabetes [LAD]). Results: Juvenile diabetic children mainly had insufficient HELMA, inadequate LAD and inadequate self-care behaviors. In addition to, unsatisfactory DM knowledge and numerical skills. Recommendations: Structured nursing intervention should be tailored to fulfill the special needs of juvenile diabetic children from the time of diagnosis and incorporating numeracy skills as a core component of diabetes education. Moreover, it is very important to spotlight on telenursing as a mean of improving health outcomes especially among patients with chronic diseases.