The relationship between health literacy and quality of life among hemodialysis patients: An integrative review.

BACKGROUND Various studies have highlighted the correlates to health literacy and quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis therapy. However, evidence of how these two outcomes could influence each other is not clear. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to assess the correlation between health literacy and quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis. METHODS This is an integrative review of correlational studies. This study conforms to the preferred reporting items for integrative reviews described by Whitemore and Knafl. We search for studies reporting on the correlation of health literacy and quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis in six databases, that is PubMed, Web of Science/Knowledge, Scopus and Embase, Google Scholar and Ovid MEDLINE. RESULTS In this review five studies were included after screening them against the inclusion criteria. Two studies were identified from Iran, and one study was identified each from Australia, Turkey, and the USA. Most studies were descriptive comparative in nature, while two studies were experimental. Shayan's study had the highest number of participants. This study reports on 1,063 patients receiving dialysis. Most studies were conducted at different centers. Findings from three studies showed that there was a significant relationship between health literacy and quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis. CONCLUSION There is a relationship between health literacy and quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis. Conclusively, addressing health literacy may improve the quality of life among patients receiving hemodialysis.