Evaluation of the relationship between health literacy and self-efficacy: A sample of hemodialysis patients.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate self-efficacy and health literacy of patients undergoing hemodialysis, to investigate the relationship between health literacy and self-efficacy, and to determine the factors affecting self-efficacy.

Methods: The study was conducted in Eskisehir and Gumushane state hospitals affiliated to the Public Hospitals Association with the participation of 198 patients receiving hemodialysis treatment for chronic renal failure. The inclusion criteria were as follows: being ⩾18 years old, receiving hemodialysis, and agreeing to participate in the study. The study data were collected using face-to-face interview technique, and they were analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis.

Results: The mean age of the patients was 59.73 ± 16.32 years. Of the patients, 46% were primary school graduates, and 63.6% reported having other chronic diseases. The mean health literacy and self-efficacy scores were found to be 79.43 ± 26.09 and 23.98 ± 7.42, respectively. The results showed that the self-efficacy scores of the patients increased as the general health literacy scores increased, with a strong linear correlation between these variables ( = 0.712;  ˂ 0.001). Patients with advanced age, low educational level, and widowed patients had lower self-efficacy and health literacy scores than others (respectively eta = 0.263, 0.116, 0.268, 0.141).

Conclusion: High score of health literacy positively affects the self-efficacy score of hemodialysis patients.