The Effects of Health Literacy on Disease Control in Adolescents With Asthma

To evaluate the association between the level of health literacy and the degree of asthma control in adolescents with asthma.The study population included 81 Turkish adolescents between 12 and 18 years of age with asthma and 47 age-matched controls without any known chronic diseases who were followed in the same medical center between February 2020 and April 2021.The level of health literacy was measured by the European Health Literacy Survey Questionnaire. The survey evaluates the individual’s ability to assess, understand, and apply information across 3 domains: health care, disease prevention, and health promotion. The total scores were divided into 4 categories with a score above 33 considered adequate: poor (0–25 points), problematic-limited (>25–33 points), sufficient (>33–42 points), and perfect (>42–50 points). The degree of asthma control was measured by the Asthma Control Test, with a total score above 19 considered well-controlled asthma.There was no significant difference in the number of participants with adequate health literacy among asthmatic adolescents (n = 45, 55.6%) and the control group (n = 28, 59.6%). However, the proportion of participants with controlled asthma (35.3%) was higher than the proportion of uncontrolled asthmatics (6.7%) and healthy controls (8.5%) in the perfect health literacy group. The scores for overall median health literacy, disease prevention, and health promotion were significantly higher in adolescents with controlled asthma compared with those with uncontrolled asthma.This study identified that better asthma control was associated with higher health literacy among adolescents with asthma.Health literacy empowers individuals to better understand and manage chronic diseases. Low health literacy is associated with poor asthma control and increased rates of hospitalization. Although the level of health literacy among asthmatic adolescents did not differ from the healthy population, the authors showed that higher health literacy was associated with better asthma control. Further studies are needed to determine whether educational interventions could improve health literacy and asthma-related outcomes.