Mediating Effects of Health Literacy Between Self-Efficacy and Quality of Life in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to investigate how health literacy mediates the link between type 2 diabetes mellitus patients' self-efficacy and quality of life.

METHODS

Between January 2025 and April 2025, researchers gathered a convenience sample of T2DM patients from six hospitals in Shaanxi Province, China. These participants completed the Diabetes-Management SE Scale, Health Literacy Scale for Chronic Patients, and the Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire to assess their self-efficacy, health literacy, and quality of life. We used SPSS 27.0 and Mplus 8.3 software to perform statistical analysis of the relationships between variables.

RESULTS

Patients with T2DM had a moderate quality of life score of 59.48 ± 14.57. Self-efficacy and quality of life were positively correlated (r = 0.950, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the association between self-efficacy and quality of life was partially mediated by health literacy (β = 0.276, 95% CI = 0.201-0.346, p < 0.001), with the mediating impact explaining 36.0% of the overall effect.

CONCLUSION

In patients with T2DM, self-efficacy and quality of life are substantially correlated, and health literacy mediates this relationship. The above findings provide scientific evidence for developing intervention strategies.