Profiles of Medication Literacy and its Predictors among Young and Middle-Aged Hypertensive Patients in China: A Latent Profile Analysis

Abstract

Improving the medication literacy among individuals with hypertension has emerged as a significant public health issue. However, the heterogeneity of medication literacy and its predictors among patients with hypertension, especially among the young and middle-aged people, has yet to be explored.

The current study aimed to identify the characteristic profiles of medication literacy among young and middle-aged hypertensive patients and investigate the associated influencing factors to guide targeted clinical interventions.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 544 consecutively recruited young and middle-aged patients with hypertension from two tertiary hospitals in China between July and November 2024. Researchers administered five validated instruments including the Demographic and Disease-Related Characteristics Questionnaire, the Revised Chinese Medication Literacy Scale for Hypertensive Patients (C-MLSHP-R), the Perceived Social Support Scale (PSSS), the General Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ). Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed using Mplus 8.3 software, followed by hierarchical logistic regression modeling using SPSS Statistics 26.0.

The latent profile analysis revealed three distinct profiles of medication literacy among young and middle-aged hypertensive patients: low medication literacy (35.3%), moderate medication literacy (50.2%), and high medication literacy (14.5%). Furthermore, multivariate logistic regression demonstrated that education level, per capita monthly family income, social support, self-efficacy, and disease perception were significant factors affecting medication literacy among young and middle-aged  patients with hypertension (all p < 0.05).

In the light of the specific medication literacy characteristics, healthcare professionals  should implement targeted interventions that merit clinical adoption and broader implementation.