Relationships Among Health Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Self-Management, and HbA1c Levels in Older Adults with Diabetes in South Korea: A Cross-Sectional Study

Figures & data

Table 1 General Participant Characteristics (n=162)

Variables	Categories	Total n (%)
Sex	Male	62 (38.3)
	Female	100 (61.7)
Age (years)	60∼69	67 (41.4)
	70∼79	53 (32.7)
	≥80	42 (25.9)
Marital status	Yes	100 (61.7)
	No	62 (38.3)
Number of family member	0 (Living alone)	58 (35.8)
	1	55 (34.0)
	2	26 (16.0)
	≥3	23 (14.2)
Monthly household income (10,000 won)	<100	100 (61.7)
	100∼299	44 (27.2)
	≥300	18 (11.1)
Education level	Uneducated	22 (13.6)
	Elementary school	56 (34.6)
	Middle school	35 (21.6)
	High school	40 (24.7)
	≥University	9 (5.6)
Usual social participation activities	No	88 (54.3)
	Yes	74 (45.7)
Number of participating activities	1	59 (79.7)
	2	11 (14.9)
	≥3	4 (5.4)
Duration of DM (years)	<10	62 (38.3)
	10∼19	52 (32.1)
	≥20	48 (29.6)
Number of diseases	1	34 (21.0)
	2	60 (37.0)
	3	50 (30.9)
	4	13 (8.0)
	≥5	5 (3.1)
Perceived Social Support	Lack	35 (21.6)
	Usually	94 (58.0)
	Many	33 (20.4)

Table 2 Health Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Self-Management, and HbA1c Levels of the Participants (n=162)

Variables	Categories	Mean±SD	Possible range	Total n (%)
Health literacy	Lower group (0∼11)	4.87±3.03	0∼30	92 (56.8)
	Normal group (12∼30)	19.67±5.27		70 (43.2)
	Total	11.27±8.44		162 (100)
Self-Efficacy		45.46±12.79	17∼68
Self-management		60.56±18.06	0∼112
HbA1c	<6.5%	5.90±0.46		41 (25.3)
	≥6.5%	7.94±1.54		121 (74.7)
	Total	7.42±1.61		162 (100)

Table 3 HbA1c Levels According to the General Participant Characteristics (n=162)

Variables	Categories (n)	Mean±SD	Z/ χ^2 (p)
Sex	Male (62)	7.47±1.81	−0.32 (0.754)
	Female (100)	7.39±1.48
Age (years)	60∼69 (67)	7.27±1.39	0.88 (0.643)
	70∼79 (53)	7.52±1.88
	≥80 (42)	7.54±1.59
Marital status	Yes (100)	7.48±1.61	1.27 (0.529)
	No (62)	7.32±1.81
Number of family member	0 (Living alone) (58)	7.60±1.74	3.83 (0.280)
	1 (55)	7.64±1.79
	2 (26)	6.99±1.25
	≥3 (23)	6.96±0.95
Monthly household Income (10,000 won)†	<100 (100)a	7.50±1.62	8.68 (0.013) a,b>c
	100∼299 (44)b	7.58±1.63
	≥300 (18)c	6.62±1.36
Education level	None (22)	7.84±1.81	6.93 (0.140)
	Elementary school graduation (56)	7.74±1.88
	Middle school graduation (35)	7.28±1.29
	High school graduation (40)	6.92±1.21
	≥University (9)	7.19±1.63
Usual social participation activities	No (88)	7.61±1.56	−2.33 (0.019)
	Yes (74)	7.20±1.66
Number of participating activities	1 (59)	7.20±1.73	0.21 (0.902)
	2 (11)	7.34±1.52
	≥3 (4)	6.75±0.89
Duration of DM(years)	<10 (62)	7.53±1.71	1.22 (0.543)
	10∼19 (52)	7.24±1.52
	≥20 (48)	7.49±1.59
Number of diseases	1 (34)	7.50±1.68	0.49 (0.975)
	2 (60)	7.43±1.57
	3 (50)	7.32±1.67
	4 (13)	7.40±1.23
	≥5 (5)	7.84±2.32
Perceived Social Support	Lack (35)	7.59±1.90	0.14 (0.931)
	Usually (94)	7.36±1.57
	Many (33)	7.42±1.41

Note: †Mann–Whitney U-test used to analyse post hoc test.

Table 4 Correlation Between Health Literacy, Self-Efficacy, Self-Management, and HbA1c Levels (n=162)

Variables	Health Literacy rs(p)	Self-Efficacy rs(p)	Self-Management rs(p)	HbA1c rs(p)
Health literacy	1.00
Self-Efficacy	0.64 (<.001)	1.00
Self-management	0.44 (<.001)	0.65 (<.001)	1.00
HbA1c	−0.42 (<.001)	−0.30 (<.001)	−0.35 (<.001)	1.00

Note: Correlation analysis using Spearman’s rank.

Table 5 Factors Associated with HbA1c Levels (n=162)

Variables	B	SE	p	OR	95% CI
Health literacy (ref. Lower group)	0.11	0.03	<0.001	1.12	1.05∼1.18
Self-Efficacy (ref. None)	−0.02	0.03	0.373	0.98	0.93∼10.3
Self-management (ref. None)	0.04	0.02	0.012	1.04	1.01∼1.07
Monthly household income (ref. <100, 100~200)(10,000 won)	−0.14	0.32	0.670	0.87	0.47∼1.63
Usual social participation activities (ref. no)	−0.19	0.45	0.666	0.82	0.34∼1.98

Notes: Dummy variable reference was normal HbA1c group=1, Increased HbA1c group=0.

Abbreviations: SE, Standard error; OR, Odds ratio; CI, Confidence interval.