title: Self-care agency and symptom management in patients treated for mood disorder.
abstract: Symptom management of patients with mood disorder, such as depression and bipolar disorder, influences quality of life and relapse. This article describes a study of symptom recognition and management and the ability of self-care agency to predict symptom management. A purposive sample of 45 subjects was studied. Step-wise multiple regression analyses of self-care agency with symptom management resulted in self-care agency explaining 37% of the variance in symptom management at 2 months posthospitalization. Patients with mood disorders have long-term vulnerability for relapse after hospital stabilization. Nurses need to continue to find ways to assess and strengthen symptom management and self-care in these relapse-prone individuals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Nursing, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, VA, USA.
authors.forename: C G
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Cutler
mesh_terms: D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D019964:Mood Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000523:psychology; D015999:Multivariate Analysis; D009730:Nursing Assessment / Q000379:methods*; D010351:Patient Discharge; D011379:Prognosis; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012648:Self Care