Health Literacy and Its Influence on Treatment Adherence Among Patients with Chronic Illnesses in Riyadh

Background . Patient adherence to long-term therapies is crucial for managing chronic disease, yet adherence rates remain suboptimal in clinical practice. Studies indicate that people who encounter difficulties in understanding health information are less likely to follow prescribed regimens. In Saudi Arabia low health literacy continues to hinder effective treatment compliance across a range of chronic conditions.Objective . This study aims to clarify the association between patients health literacy and their actual ability to take medications as intended in a large tertiary-care facility in Riyadh.Methods . A cross-sectional design was used to enroll 372 consecutively attending outpatients with diabetes, hypertension, or dyslipidaemia. Health literacy was measured with the 16-item short form of the European Health Literacy Survey (HLS-EU-Q16), and adherence was evaluated using the eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS-8). Descriptive statistics presented demographic and clinical characteristics, while multivariate logistic regression identified independent predictors of good adherence after controlling for potential confounders.Results . Adequate health literacy was documented in only 25.8 of the sample, and 24.5 reported consistently taking medications as directed. After adjusting for age, education level, treatment complexity, and comorbid illness, participants with adequate literacy had approximately four times greater odds of being high adherers than those with limited literacy (odds ratio 3.86, 95 confidence interval 2.27-6.57, p < 0.01).Conclusion . The findings indicate that enhancing health literacy through structured, culturally appropriate educational initiatives could translate into higher medication adherence and, by extension, better clinical outcomes for patients managed in tertiary care centres.