Health literacy, diabetic knowledge, and diabetic self-care among foreign diabetic patients at a hospital in South Korea

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate health literacy, diabetic knowledge, and diabetic self-care among foreign diabetic patients at a hospital in South Korea. Methods: Participants was 134 foreign patients diagnosed with diabetes and who understand English. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0. Results: Health literacy significantly differed with HbA1c levels, whereas diabetic knowledge significantly differed with education levels, and time since diagnosed. Diabetic self-care significantly differed with time since the diagnosis. Health literacy significantly differed with diabetic knowledge and diabetic self-care. There was a correlation between health literacy and diabetic knowledge and between diabetic knowledge and diabetic self-care but not between health literacy and diabetic self-care. Conclusion: There are significant results on health literacy, diabetic knowledge and diabetic self-care. Subject with adequate health literacy had high scores on diabetic knowledge and self-care.