title: The relationship between physical function, knowledge of disease, social support and self-care behavior in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
abstract: The purposes of this study were to explore the relationships between physical function, knowledge of disease, social support, and self-care behavior in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and to examine the predictive variables of self-care behavior. A cross-sectional design was developed and implemented in which 115 subjects with rheumatoid arthritis were recruited from two hospitals located in southern Taiwan. Findings demonstrated a significantly positive correlation between self-care behavior and age, physical function and social support. Age and social support represented the effective predictors of self-care behavior, explaining 13.4% of total self-care behavior variance. Study results suggest that healthcare providers should better understand the predictive factors of self-care behavior, design effective interventions and provide therapeutic information in order to facilitate better self-care behavior in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Communication and Graduate Institute of Telecommunications, National Chung Cheng University, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
authors.forename: Su-Yen
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Hsiu-Hung
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D001294:Attitude to Health; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D020380:Needs Assessment; D015404:Nursing Methodology Research; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000592:standards; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013624:Taiwan