Diabetes Health Literacy, Diabetes Numeracy, and Cognitive Function as Predictors of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Self-Management

The present study assessed older adults (≥ 45 years old) diabetes health literacy, diabetes numeracy, cognitive function, and its association with their Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) self-management outcomes. These factors are of concern as diabetes is a lifelong condition affecting the body’s conversion of food into energy and may lead to complications and comorbidities if this condition is not properly self-managed. Diabetes health literacy refers to having the necessary capabilities in finding and analyzing diabetes-related information to make informed decisions regarding their health. Numeracy in diabetes has to do with being able to compute diabetes-related math such as insulin and nutritional calculations. Diabetes self-management outcomes include insulin pump or continuous glucose monitor (CGM) use, medication adherence, physical activity, diet, and cooperation with one’s healthcare team. In this study, 88 participants completed an online questionnaire measuring their diabetes health literacy, diabetes numeracy, and cognitive function levels with the expectation there were positive correlations to T2DM self-management outcomes. The results confirmed the first and third hypotheses, there were statistically significant positive correlations between diabetes health literacy, cognitive function, and T2DM self-management outcomes respectively. The second hypothesis of diabetes numeracy being positively associated with T2DM self-management outcomes was not supported; however, the relationship was marginally significant at p = 0.055. For hypotheses 4 and 5, the overall models were found to be significant, however when the interaction is added the models do not significantly improve. The results of the present study exhibit diabetes health literacy, numeracy, and cognitive function are positively associated with T2DM self-management outcomes demonstrating the importance of these factors; this aligns with existing literature purporting 95% of diabetes care is through self-management of the disease.