Nutritional literacy of patients who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer based on Nutbeam’s health literacy model: a qualitative study

The level of nutritional literacy reflects the self-management ability of individuals for a healthy diet and serves as a foundation for effective nutritional interventions. This qualitative study aimed to gain a comprehensive insight into the nutritional literacy levels of patients with esophageal cancer who underwent surgery, obtaining information from both patients and medical staff through interviews.

Based on Nutbeam’s health literacy model, 27 participants were selected from December 2023 to February 2024. We used semi-structured interviews and directed content analysis.

Sixteen patients who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer and 11 medical staff from the Department of Esophageal Cancer completed the interviews. There were five themes, including attitude and cognition, functional nutrition literacy, interactive nutrition literacy, critical nutrition literacy, and ways to improve patients’ nutritional literacy.

This study investigated the nutritional literacy levels of patients after esophageal cancer surgery from the perspectives of both patients and medical staff, offering comprehensive insights into the assessment of patients’ nutritional literacy and the corresponding strategies for improvement. It emphasizes the hierarchical nature of nutritional literacy among patients after surgery and systematically outlines the different levels of nutritional literacy in this population. The results indicated that the level of nutrient literacy was low and exhibited marked differences. This finding suggests that future studies should be individualized, continuous, and comprehensive, following the Nutbeam’s health literacy model, to improve patients’ nutritional literacy levels.