Table 1 Baseline Characteristics of 1,002 Adults with Diabetes by Literacy Level
From: Literacy and health outcomes: a cross-sectional study in 1002 adults with diabetes
Characteristics | All Subjects | Inadequate Literacy | Marginal Literacy | Adequate Literacy | P Value†|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Number of subjects (%) | 1002 (100) | 105 (10) | 66 (7) | 831 (83) | Â |
STOFHLA Score, range | 0–36 | 0–16 | 17–22 | 18–36 |  |
S-TOFHLA Score, median (IQR) | 34 (29–35) | 0 (0–12) | 20 (18–21) | 35 (33–35) | <0.001 |
Age, median (IQR), y | 66 (57–74) | 74 (67–79) | 74 (67–79) | 64 (56–72) | <0.001 |
Female, No. (%) | 545 (54) | 51 (49) | 34 (52) | 460 (55) | 0.37 |
White race, No. (%) | 972 (97) | 97 (94) | 65 (98) | 810 (98) | 0.11 |
Married or living as married, No. (%) | 626 (63) | 50 (48) | 41 (62) | 535 (65) | 0.005 |
Annual income < $30,000, No. (%) | 545 (59) | 85 (92) | 43 (75) | 417 (54) | <0.001 |
Education, No. (%) | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Some high school or less | 245 (25) | 72 (69) | 31 (48) | 142 (17) | <0.001 |
   High school graduate | 354 (36) | 24 (23) | 19 (30) | 311 (38) |  |
   College graduate/some college | 305 (31) | 6 (6) | 11 (17) | 288 (35) |  |
   Graduate education | 91 (9) | 2 (2) | 3 (5) | 86 (10) |  |
Insurance, No. (%)* | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Private insurance | 582 (58) | 37 (36) | 33 (51) | 512 (62) | <0.001 |
   Medicare insurance | 594 (60) | 91 (88) | 58 (89) | 445 (54) | <0.001 |
   Medicaid insurance | 212 (21) | 48 (47) | 14 (22) | 150 (18) | <0.001 |
   Military or VA insurance | 51 (5) | 3 (3) | 6 (9) | 42 (5) | 0.19 |
   No insurance | 24 (2) | 0 (0) | 2 (3) | 22 (3) | 0.19 |
Alcohol intake >1dk/wk, No. (%) | 194 (20) | 10 (10) | 8 (12) | 176 (22) | 0.003 |
Years with diabetes, median (IQR) | 6.8 (3–14) | 9.5 (4–20) | 10.5 (4–20) | 6.3 (3–13) | 0.01 |
Attended diabetes class, No. (%) | 349 (35) | 26 (25) | 21 (32) | 302 (37) | 0.06 |
Treatments for diabetes, No. (%) | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Diet alone | 242 (24) | 20 (19) | 7 (11) | 215 (26) | < 0.001 |
   Oral hypoglycemic alone | 574 (57) | 64 (61) | 44 (67) | 466 (56) |  |
   Insulin alone | 93 (9) | 19 (18) | 5 (8) | 69 (8) |  |
   Insulin and oral agent | 92 (9) | 2 (2) | 10 (15) | 80 (10) |  |
Hypertension medication, No. (%) | 834 (83) | 91 (87) | 61 (92) | 682 (82) | 0.06 |
Cholesterol medication, No. (%) | 591 (59) | 57 (54) | 43 (65) | 491 (59) | 0.36 |
A1C, median (IQR) | 6.9 (6.3–7.7) | 6.9 (6.3–7.7) | 6.8 (6.3–7.3) | 6.9 (6.3–7.7) | 0.50 |
Systolic Blood Pressure, median (IQR) | 139 (127–151) | 137 (123–159) | 144 (131–155) | 138 (127–150) | 0.17 |
Diastolic Blood Pressure, median (IQR) | 79 (71–85) | 76 (68–83) | 77 (68–84) | 79 (72–86) | 0.003 |
LDL-cholesterol, median (IQR) | 99 (83–118) | 99 (79–117) | 94 (74–106) | 99 (84–119) | 0.06 |
Complications, No. (%) | Â | Â | Â | Â | Â |
   Retinopathy | 189(20) | 29 (30) | 21 (34) | 139 (18) | <0.001 |
   Nephropathy | 44 (9) | 8 (15) | 0 (0) | 36 (9) | 0.11 |
   Gastroparesis | 56 (6) | 9 (9) | 6 (10) | 41 (6) | 0.16 |
   Foot/leg problems | 288 (31) | 30 (30) | 27 (44) | 231 (30) | 0.07 |
   Cerebrovascular disease | 118 (12) | 22 (21) | 11 (17) | 85 (10) | 0.003 |
   Coronary artery disease | 194 (19) | 32 (30) | 18 (27) | 144 (17) | 0.002 |
Depression; PHQ > 5, No. (%); N = 589 | 195 (33) | 24 (40) | 14 (54) | 157 (31) | 0.03 |
Depression score (0–27), median (IQR) | 2 (0–6) | 3 (1–8) | 5 (2–7) | 2 (0–6) | 0.04 |