SELF-MANAGEMENT AND ITS ASSOCIATED FACTORS AMONG PATIENTS AFTER HEART VALVE REPLACEMENT THERAPY

Abstract

Self-management plays an important role for patients after heart valve replacement to promote their recovery, prevent complications, and improve their quality of life. The purposes of this correlational study were to examine self-management and its relationships with age, self-efficacy, social support, and depression among patients after heart valve replacement. A simple random sampling technique was used to recruit 135 adults after heart valve replacement who came to the cardiac surgery outpatient department at a hospital in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, China. Research instruments included the demographic information questionnaire, the Chinese version of the self-management scale of patients after mechanical heart valve replacement, the Chinese version of the General Self-Efficacy Scale, the Chinese version of the perceived social support scale, and the Chinese version of the Self-Rating Depression Scale. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficients were .905, .960, .901, .796 respectively. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson product-moment correlation.

The results showed that participants reported moderate self-management scores (M = 102.07, SD = 5.86). Self-efficacy and social support correlated positively with self-management (r = .347, p < .01; r = .474, p < .01, respectively). Age and depression correlated negatively with self-management (r = –.201, p < .05; r = –.325, p < .01, respectively).

The results suggest that an intervention aimed at improving self-management for patients after heart valve replacement should focus on enhancing their self-efficacy, providing social support, and depression management to prevent complications, promote recovery, and improve quality of life.

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