Development and application of a chronic kidney disease-specific health literacy, knowledge and disease awareness assessment tool for patients with chronic kidney disease in Taiwan.

Objectives: This study aims to develop an assessment tool for health literacy and knowledge specific to chronic kidney disease (CKD) for use in examining the associations between health literacy, disease-specific knowledge and disease awareness among patients with CKD in Taiwan.

Design: An assessment tool in Mandarin and Taiwanese was developed based on patient input, panel discussions with experts and a literature review, and checked for validity and reliability in a pilot test. Formal data were collected through population-based sampling with a set quota according to region and hospital accreditation level.

Disease-specific health literacy, disease knowledge, and adherence behavior among patients with type 2 diabetes in Taiwan.

Background: To examine the association between health literacy, level of disease knowledge, and adherence behavior among patients with type 2 diabetes.

Methods: A cross-sectional survey study of 1059 Mandarin- and Taiwanese-speaking patients aged 20 years or older with type 2 diabetes was conducted. The demographic profiles of the sample strata were determined by analyzing the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Database.