Health literacy among anticoagulated patients from a specialized unit, and its impact on treatment
Abstract
Health literacy (HL) is defined as the skill people possess to find, understand and use information
and services to make health-related decisions and actions for themselves. A cross sectional
descriptive study was conducted with the aim of acknowledging health literacy level among
anticoagulated patients and assess the relationship between HL and adherence and the prevalence
of complications associated with anticoagulation treatment. The studied population consisted of
patients assisted at Hemostasis and Thrombosis Unit from Hospitalde Clínicas with
anticoagulation treatmentindication. For this purpose, HealthLiteracy Questionnaire and another
questionnaire were used to evaluate health literacy and adherence respectively. Also, patients’
clinical records were used to state the prevalence of complications. The results obtainedshowed
that healthliteracy degree was acceptable in nine evaluatedareas, medium level of adherence was
most prevalent and the majorityof the patients did not present any complications. Furthermore,
the results demonstrated a significant correlation betweenhealth literacy and adherence. It was
not possible to establish association between complications and health literacy, nor adherence. In
conclusion, we highlight the relationship between health literacy and adherence to anticoagulant
treatment. This study accomplished the diagnosis of this population’s situation regarding HL,
making it possible to lay the groundwork for future studies
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Copyright (c) 2023 Cecilia Amuedo, Agustina Arocha, Romina Balarini, Macarena Lorente, Lucía Puig, María Grazia Secco, María Noel Spangenberg, Cecilia Guillermo, Matilde Boada
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