Health literacy and therapeutic adherence of patients undergoing oral antineoplastic chemotherapy: a correlational study.

Objective: to correlate the levels of health literacy, therapeutic adherence, and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of adults with cancer undergoing oral antineoplastic therapy.

Method: this is a cross-sectional, correlational study conducted in the oncology outpatient clinics of a philanthropic general hospital in São Paulo. Instruments used included a sample characterization form, Treatment Adherence Measure and the Brazilian version of the European Health Literacy Survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics.

Results: the sample consisted of 100 patients: 68% were 51 years of age or older; 52% without comorbidities and were taking three or more medications daily; 53% had 11 years of education or more; and 49% were retired or pensioners. Inadequate literacy was found in 52.9%, problematic in 24.1%, sufficient in 20.7% and excellent in 2.3%. The mean adherence was 5.6 (SD= 0.7), and among those with non-adherence, 58% did not comply with the administration schedule. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between health literacy and education level, and a negative relationship between health literacy and the frequency of medication administration.

Conclusion: health literacy was characterized as inadequate or problematic. The score related to adherence to oral chemotherapy was high. Low general health literacy did not influence adherence to the oral antineoplastic therapeutic regimen.