Introduction: Diabetes literacy represents personal knowledge and competencies related to diabetes mellitus (DM) among people living with DM (PLWD). It is a crucial component for optimizing care and empowering effective selfmanagement. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted at Hospital Tuanku Ja’afar Seremban (HTJS) and Klinik Kesihatan Seremban (KKS) using a validated simplified Diabetes Knowledge Test (DKT). DKT assessed understanding in six domains, namely, awareness, lifestyle modification, diet and monitoring, general knowledge, preventive screening, and insulin. A score of >75% was classified as adequate diabetes literacy. Significant predictive factors identified from univariate Pearson Chi Square were further analyzed using multivariate logistic regression. Results: A total of 250 PLWDs, with equal contribution from each centre, were recruited with a mean (SD) age of 50.3 (13.6) years, 58.4% female, and 43.2% Malays. A total of 21.2% demonstrated adequate diabetes literacy. The results demonstrated the highest proficiency in the preventive screening domain (92.6%) and the lowest in the awareness domain (50.2%). Unemployed PLWDs had significantly lower odds of adequate diabetes literacy (odds ratio [OR] = 0.20, p = 0.010). Similarly, PLWDs with hemoglobin A1c levels >10% exhibited approximately 2.6-fold lower odds of adequate diabetes literacy. In contrast, PLWDs who reported healthcare personnel as their primary source of diabetes-related information had significantly higher odds of adequate literacy (OR = 1.59, p = 0.017). No significant association was demonstrated between diabetes literacy and frequency of hospital admissions, medication adherence, and diabetes-related target organ damage Conclusion Diabetes literacy among PLWD in HTJS and KKS is suboptimal, with notable gaps in awareness of the disease. Targeted, culturally tailored education strategies are essential to address these disparities and to empower them for effective diabetes self-management.
Literacy ; Diabetes Mellitus