Relating Factors for Impaired Fasting Glucose in Korean Adult: A Population Based Study

Abstract Background: Individuals with impaired fasting glucose who have poor health behaviors are at a greater risk for a variety of health outcomes. This study aimed to investigate the relationship between health literacy and health behaviors in Korean adults with impaired fasting glucose (IFG). Methods: This study adopted a secondary data analysis of the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (KNHANES), which used a stratified, multi-stage, cluster-sampling design to obtain a nationally representative sample. This study analyzed the KNANES Health Examination Survey and Health Behavior Survey from 2016 to 2018. Multiple logistic regression analysis was employed to compute the odds ratios of health behaviors and health literacy to identify the risk factors for impaired fasting glucose.Results: Among the 9919 participants, 7093 (71.5%) were in the normal fasting glucose group and 2826 (28.5%) were in the impaired fasting glucose group. The presence of an impaired fasting glucose level varied significantly by sex, age, economic status, and whether participants dined out regularly, drank alcohol regularly, recognized nutrition fact labels, and utilized nutrition facts labels.Conclusions: Individuals with impaired fasting glucose were less likely to practice health behaviors and had lower health literacy compared with those with non-impaired fasting glucose. Our results suggest that improving health literacy in subjects with impaired fasting glucose is effective in improving their health behaviors.