Introduction:

Health literacy is a measure of the ability of patients to read, understand and make decisions based on medical instructions. Inadequate health literacy is associated with poorer health in patients with chronic diseases. Time of dispensing could be an opportunity for the primary care pharmacist to evaluate this condition by the.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship of Health literacy and the values of total cholesterol and comorbidities in people with a prescription of lipid-lowering drugs treated in a retirement center.

Method:

A prospective study was designed where the relationship of Health literacy was evaluated using Short Assessment of Health Literacy for Spanish-speaking Adults and the value of cholesterol, medications, risk factors and comorbidities. All these variables were analyzed in an integrated manner in a multivariate analysis.

Results:

178 patients participated, 63% women. The mean SAHLSA score was 43.4 ± 5.5. Inadequate HL was found in 24%. patients.

The mean cholesterol value in patients with inadequate Health literacy was 235.17mg / dl vs 193.53mg / dl among those with adequate Health literacy.

A multivariate analysis was performed that showed an association between inadequate Health literacy, the level of education and the patient’s knowledge of normal values of total cholesterol. The number of hospitalizations and the occurrence of coronary events were significantly higher in patients with insufficient Health literacy.

Conclusions:

A direct relationship was found between the degree of Health literacy and total cholesterol values in patients undergoing treatment for hypercholesterolemia.

        · resumo em Espanhol     · texto em Espanhol     · Espanhol ( pdf )