Objective  To understand the state of literacy on chronic disease prevention and treatment and its influencing factors among nurses of top tertiary hospitals in Haikou City, and to provide a research basis for the government to effectively deal with chronic disease prevention and treatment.

  Methods  A total of 1 100 clinical nurses in top tertiary hospitals in Haikou City were surveyed from June to July 2019 by using literacy questionnaires for the prevention and treatment of chronic disease.

  Results  Totally 1 052 nurses finished the survey completely. The question item with lowest answer rate(8.94%)was about "osteoporosis-related knowledge", followed by "benefit of soy products such as tofu and soy milk" (32.70%), "correct understanding of self-tested blood pressure"(46.10%), and "adverse effects of smoking" (69.87%). But for other questions, the current answer rates were higher than 80%. The overall level of literacy on chronic disease prevention of these surveyed nurses was 22.05%. The results of logistic regression analysis showed that obtaining a health manager certificate(OR = 2.536, 95%CI: 1.308 - 4.916)and obtaining other certificates such as the certificate of breastfeeding specialist(OR = 1.507, 95%CI: 1.032 - 2.202)were positive influencing factors of literacy level, while non-local household registration(OR = 0.551, 95%CI: 0.339 - 0.894), and working in outpatient departments(OR = 0.412, 95%CI: 0.179 - 0.948)were negative influencing factors.

  Conclusions  The overall level of literacy on chronic disease prevention and treatment among nurses of top tertiary hospitals in Haikou City was low and affected by both the external environment factors and nurses' own factors. The hospitals should promptly strengthen training of nurses on chronic disease prevention and treatment, encourage nurses to improve their abilities, and pay attention to their physical health.