Self-care agency and associated factors in discharged patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in southwest China

<p>Hui Yang</p>

Self-care agency and associated factors in discharged patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in southwest China

Hui Yang

Sichuan University, China

: J Nurs Patient Care

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to estimate the level of self-care agency and explore its associated factors in discharged patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) in southwest China. Method: A cross-sectional study was conducted between July-October 2016 and all discharged patients were from a tertiary general hospital in southwest China. The self-care agency was assessed by the Exercise of Self-Care agency Scale (ESCA). Pain and fatigue were assessed by the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). The disease activity was measured using Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index 2000 (SLEDAI-2K). Physical and mental health were evaluated by the Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) of the instrument SF-36, version-2. Multivariate regression analysis was performed to explore the associated factors of self-care agency. Result: A total of 123 discharged patients were recruited. The mean of ESCA was 86.29. In univariate analysis, self-care agency of discharged patients have the difference in gender, work status, educational level, household income and disease activity (P<0.05). Additionally, higher BMI, higher level of fatigue and worse mental health was found in patients with lower self-care agency (P<0.05). The stepwise multivariate regression analysis showed that male (P=0.001), lower educational level (P=0.003), lower household income (P<0.001) and worse mental health (P<0.001) could predict lower self-care agency. Conclusion: This results indicated that the discharged patients with SLE had a middle level of self-care agency in southwest China. The lower level of self-care agency was assessed with male, lower educational level, lower household income and worse mental health. These findings pointed out the importance of targeted intervention to enhance the self-care agency of discharged patients with SLE.