The Relationship between Health Literacy and Quality of Life in Hospitalized Patients with Arterial Hypertension

Abstract

The aim is to examine health literacy and the quality of life of hospitalized patients with arterial hypertension: whether there are differences with regard to the demographic characteristics of the respondents; whether there is a connection between health literacy and the quality of life of the respondents. For the purposes of this research, a cross-sectional survey was conducted. All adult hospitalized patients at the Požega County General Hospital (OGH) in the period from July to October 2020 were included in the research. The analyzed and validated Croatian version of the functional health literacy test SAHLCA-50 was used as a research instrument. The Croatian version of the SF-36 instrument was used to examine the quality of life. Patients with arterial hypertension (AH) had an inadequate level of health literacy compared to those without AH (32 versus 40 points; Mann–Whitney U test, p < 0.001). The subjects without AH had a significantly better quality of life, median 45.6 (IQR 36.4 to 53.4). Domains of health in respondents with AH are significantly and positively related to health literacy.