Patient Preference and Adherence (Aug 2023)
Relationship Between Medication Literacy and Beliefs Among Persons with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Guangdong, China
Abstract
Sifen Jiang,1,* Zhuoqi Zhu,2,* Guisheng Liao,3,* Yanling Huang,1 Lichang Li,4 Kun Zeng1 1School of Nursing, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Public Health, Guangxi Medical University, Guangxi, People’s Republic of China; 3Emergency Outpatient, Dongguan Eighth People’s Hospital, Dongguan, People’s Republic of China; 4Endocrinology Department, Dongguan Eighth People’s Hospital, Dongguan, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Kun Zeng, School of Nursing, Guangdong Pharmaceutical University, No. 283, Jianghai Avenue, Haizhu District, Guangzhou City, Guangdong Province, 510310, People’s Republic of China, Tel +86 13790300213, Email [email protected]: To establish the relationship between medication literacy and medication beliefs among persons with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM).Patients and methods: A cross-sectional survey of 246 patients with T2DM was conducted between April and November 2022 at a tertiary hospital in Dongguan City, Guangdong Province, China. Subsequently, these patients were administered the General Information Questionnaire, the Chinese version of Medication Literacy Assessment Scale, and the Chinese version of Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire-Specific via survey.Results: The medication literacy score of patients with T2DM was 7.82± 3.007, and the medication beliefs score was 2.26± 4.011. The Pearson correlation analysis revealed a statistically significant but weakly positive correlation (r = 0.271, P 0.05), while a lowly negative correlation was observed between medication literacy and concerns (r = − 0.307, P < 0.001). Moreover, the multiple linear regression analysis indicated that medication literacy, age, education level, and duration of medication usage were all significant factors influencing patients’ medication beliefs (all P < 0.05). Together, these variables accounted for 15.3% of the total variance observed in the regression equation.Conclusion: The study found a positive correlation between medication literacy and beliefs, and a negative correlation between medication literacy and concerns. These results indicate that enhancing medication literacy can improve medication adherence among individuals with T2DM by reducing concerns and strengthening medication beliefs.Keywords: type 2 diabetes mellitus, T2DM, medication literacy, medication beliefs, medication adherence, correlation
