Relation between health literacy, self-care and adherence to treatment with oral anticoagulants in adults: a narrative systematic review

Background Oral anticoagulants (OAC) are widely used in patients with cardiovascular diseases. However, for optimal OAC self-care patients must have skills, among which health literacy (HL) is highlighted. We aimed to describe the relation between HL and self-care in cardiovascular patients on OAC treatment. Methods Electronic searches were carried out in the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, SciELO, IME-Biomedicina, CUIDEN Plus and LILACS databases, limited to Spanish and English language and between January 2000–December 2016. Papers reported on adults older than 18 years, taking OAC by themselves for at least three months. PRISMA guidelines were used for p…