Health Literacy, Diabetes Distress, Health Functioning And Self-Management Behaviours Among Ghanaians Living With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

Abstract

This research examined the predictive connection between health literacy, self-management behaviours, diabetes distress, and health functioning in individuals with type 2 diabetes. The research utilised a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional design. The sample consisted of 119 participants selected through consecutive sampling. Descriptive statistics were employed to analyse the data using IBM SPSS Statistics. Additionally, PLS-SEM with Smart-PLS was utilised to investigate the relationships between the variables of interest. The study found that participants generally exhibited a high level of health literacy across different domains, with 94.1% demonstrating adequate diabetes health literacy. Participants reported low levels of distress related to their diabetes, although 33.6% experienced moderate to severe distress. Self-management behaviours were generally optimal across subdomains, and participants reported low levels of impairment in health functioning. Statistical analyses revealed that diabetes health literacy positively impacted diabetes self-management behaviours. Diabetes distress had a negative effect on self-management behaviours but a positive effect on health functioning, but the influence of self-management behaviours on health functioning was not significant. The study also showed that the link between diabetes distress and health functioning was not mediated by self-management behaviours. In conclusion, this study provides important perspectives on the relationships among health literacy, diabetes distress, self-management behaviours, and health functioning among Ghanaians with type 2 diabetes.