Abstract
BackgroundThe World Health Organization and several governments encourage medical self-care (including self-medication) for minor illnesses. Accordingly, the factors that influence self-care have received research attention, with socioeconomic status identified as one such predictor. Although studies have examined the relationship between socioeconomic status and quality of life (QOL) in patients suffering from respiratory allergies or chronic illnesses, the relationship between QOL and self-care behavior for the common cold, the most common illness seen in primary care, has not been examined. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between QOL and self-care behavior in individuals suffering from the common cold.MethodsWe distributed questionnaires to 499 people who attended an annual public health checkup in Kasama city, Japan. Valid questionnaires were received from 398 participants (mean age = 59.0, SD = 15.8, range = 24–87 years; 61.4 % women). The materials included a question relating to typical actions taken when treating a common cold (self-care or visiting a health clinic), demographics, and the Short Form-8™ (SF-8™)—an 8-item survey that assesses health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The association of care action and HRQOL were investigated using Mann–Whitney U tests with a significance level of p < 0.05.ResultsThe mean scores for the Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, Social Functioning, Role-Emotional, and Physical Component Summary score of the SF-8™ were significantly higher among the self-care group than the group that preferred visiting a clinic.ConclusionsHRQOL among individuals who engage in self-care when treating the common cold was observed to be significantly higher than among individuals who preferred to attend a health clinic. It is unclear whether self-care behavior affects QOL, or whether QOL affects self-care behavior; however, this finding highlights the importance of the relationship between QOL and self-care behavior. Additional studies should be conducted in order to investigate the direction of causality between self-care behaviors and QOL further.
Highlights
IntroductionThe World Health Organization and several governments encourage medical self-care (including self-medication) for minor illnesses
The World Health Organization and several governments encourage medical self-care for minor illnesses
The results of a t-test revealed that the mean age of Group II was significantly higher than that of Group I (p < 0.001), indicating that younger persons are more likely to report that they would engage in self-care when suffering from a common cold rather than consult a doctor
Summary
The World Health Organization and several governments encourage medical self-care (including self-medication) for minor illnesses. The World Health Organization (WHO) has pointed out that responsible self-medication may help prevent and treat ailments that do not require professional medical consultation [2, 3]. Encouragement of self-care, referred to as patient empowerment, includes giving patients the opportunity to take responsibility and build confidence in their ability to manage their own health [5]. This is typically achieved by facilitating patients’ acquisition of the experience necessary to identifying health needs, setting goals related to personal health care, identifying personal and social obstacles, developing solutions, considering possible consequences of alternative solutions, and making appropriate decisions [6,7,8]. The empowerment approach is linked to self-determination theory, which supports empowering individuals’ independence in selfcare in order to increase the likelihood of formation of enduring self-care habits [9]
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