Fatemeh Hosseinpour, Malihe Saboor, Yadollah Abolfathi Momtaz, Zhaleh Zandieh, Marjan Haghi,
Volume 25, Issue 2 (7-2025)
Background: Frailty syndrome is associated with adverse health outcomes in older adults. Identifying factors related to frailty among older adults with diabetes can help improve their health. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between health literacy, self-care, and frailty syndrome in elderly individuals with diabetes referred to comprehensive health centers in Ardabil in 2023.
Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional descriptive study conducted on 241 elderly people with diabetes referring to comprehensive health centers in Ardabil, who were selected using a multi-stage random sampling method. Data were collected using demographic questionnaires, health literacy, diabetes self-care, and the Tilberg Frailty Checklist. Data analysis was performed using descriptive and analytical statistics in SPSS-26 software.
Results: The mean age of the participants was 66.56±7.35 years; the majority were female (58.40%), married (78.60%), and illiterate (29.20%), living with their spouses and children. The mean and standard deviation of health literacy, self-care, and vulnerability scores were 54.16±25.62, 113.60±15.02, and 6.02±3.17, respectively. Regression analysis indicated that female gender (β=0.142, p=0.023), age (β=0.171, p=0.002), economic status (β=0.123, p=0.028), living alone (β=0.142, p=0.006), and history of hospitalization (β=0.152, p=0.003) were significantly associated with increased frailty, while self-care showed a significant association with reduced frailty.
Conclusion: The results demonstrated that female gender, age, economic status, living alone, and history of hospitalization were significantly associated with increased frailty, whereas self-care was significantly linked to reduced frailty. It is recommended that targeted educational programs be developed to enhance health literacy and self-care, alongside the design of multifaceted interventions focusing on socio-economic factors to alleviate the burden of frailty syndrome among older diabetic adults.
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