516-P: Health Literacy in Younger and in Older Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Undergoing Coronary Angiography

• Published in: Diabetes (New York, N.Y.) Vol. 74; no. Supplement_1; p. 1
• Main Authors: NEYER, MAGDALENA, VOGEL, JOHANNES, ELSNER, PASCAL, PLATTNER, THOMAS, VONBANK, ALEXANDER, LARCHER, BARBARA, MADER, ARTHUR, SCHNETZER, LAURA, LEIHERER, ANDREAS, FRICK, MATTHIAS, MUENDLEIN, AXEL, FESTA, ANDREAS, DREXEL, HEINZ, SAELY, CHRISTOPH H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New York American Diabetes Association 20.06.2025
• Subjects: Age; Angiography; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus (non-insulin dependent); Health education; Health literacy; Medical imaging
• ISSN: 0012-1797; 1939-327X
• DOI: 10.2337/db25-516-P

Introduction and Objective: Health literacy reflects the ability to make appropriate health decisions and affects health outcomes. It therefore is an important parameter in patient care. Health literacy in patients undergoing coronary angiography is unclear and is addressed in the present study. Methods: We enrolled 697 consecutive patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of established or suspected stable CAD in a tertiary care setting in central Europe. Health literacy was measured using the validated HLS-EU-Q16 questionnaire. Results: A response rate of 79.5% was achieved. Overall, 222 patients (31.9%) had type 2 diabetes (T2DM). The mean age was 67.6±10.9 years, 272 patients were <65 years and 425 patients ≥65 years. Comparing T2DM patients to those who did not have diabetes, overall median health literacy scores (HLS) were 12.0 [IQR:10-15] vs. 13 [IQR:10-15] among patients <65 years (p=0.655) and 12 [IQR:10-16] vs. 13 [IQR:11-15] among older patients ≥65 years (p=0.856). Prevalence rates of adequate (HLS 13-16), problematic (HLS 9-12) and inadequate (HLS 0-8) health literacy did not differ significantly in patients with T2DM vs. subjects without T2DM in both age groups: 49.2% vs. 56.1%, 34.4% vs. 27.8% and 16.4% vs. 16.1% among patients <65 years and 49.5% vs. 56.4%, 36.0% vs. 30.7% and 14.4% vs. 12.9% among patients ≥65 years, respectively. Conclusion: We conclude that among patients undergoing coronary angiography for the evaluation of established or suspected stable CAD health literacy is suboptimal, regardless of diabetes status and age.