The Effects of a Health Literacy Promotion Program on Health Outcomes in Individuals at Risk for Metabolic Syndrome: A Study of Outpatients at Phaya Mengrai Hospital, Chiang Rai Province

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of a health literacy promotion program on health outcomes among individuals at risk for metabolic syndrome. This quasi-experimental study had an experimental group and a control group, each consisting of 35 participants. Data were collected both before and after the intervention, between November 2024 and March 2025, at the Outpatient Department of Phaya Mengrai Hospital in Chiang Rai. The data collection tools include demographic data, health literacy assessment, and metabolic syndrome screening record. Data were performed using independent t-tests and multiple logistic regression.

The results showed that the experimental group had significantly higher post-intervention mean health literacy scores than the control group (64.47±7.17 vs.  56.37±10.06, p<0.05). Most participants in the experimental group had a very high level of health literacy (56.2%) and were 3.72 times (95%CI 1.13, 12.23) more likely to have a very high level of health literacy compared to those in the control group. Furthermore, the experimental group scored significantly higher across all four components of health literacy (P<0.05). However, there were no statistically significant differences (P>0.05) between the two groups in post-intervention clinical indicators of metabolic syndrome, including systolic and diastolic blood pressure, blood glucose levels, and triglyceride levels.

In conclusion, the program effectively enhanced health literacy but did not significantly improve clinical indicators within the study's follow-up period. Therefore, long-term follow-up is recommended to comprehensively assess the program’s impact on clinical outcomes.