Factors Associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine Health Literacy among Knee Osteoarthritis Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To investigate the status of exposure, reading, trust, and utilization of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) health culture knowledge among patients with primary knee osteoarthritis (KOA), and to provide a scientific basis for formulating relevant policies, strategies, and measures for the popularization of TCM health culture knowledge. Methods: A convenient sample of patients with primary KOA was selected from the hip and knee surgery departments of one tertiary grade A general hospital in Panzhihua City from August 2024 to February 2025. Face-to-face surveys were conducted using a general information questionnaire, a numerical rating scale (NRS) of pain, and the Questionnaire on the Popularization of National TCM Health Culture Knowledge. Univariate and binary logistic regression analyses were performed using SPSS 27.0 software, and multivariate forest plots were drawn using GraphPad Prism 9.5.1 software. Results: A total of 228 patients with primary KOA were included, with the popularization rate, reading rate, trust rate, and action rate of TCM health culture knowledge being 93.42%, 84.21%, 71.93%, and 50.88%, respectively. Logistic regression showed that disease course and NRS score were influencing factors for the popularization rate, lesion involvement range, residence, ethnicity and age were influencing factors for the reading rate, education level and disease course were influencing factors for the trust rate, and ethnicity, age and education level were influencing factors for the action rate. Conclusion: TCM health culture knowledge’s popularization rate and reading rate in patients with primary KOA were relatively high, but the action rate was low, showing a knowledge-action gap. Younger age, higher education level, longer disease course, and Han ethnicity were associated with better popularization of TCM health culture knowledge. It is recommended that behavioral intervention strategies be developed to improve the action rate, strengthen targeted interventions for different regions and populations, and optimize the content and forms of cultural communication.