The relationship between patient activation level and self-care management in elderly patients with chronic illness in the southeastern anatolian region of Turkey

Abstract

Purpose: High level of patient activation is important for better patient outcomes in chronic illnesses. The purpose of the study was to determine the relationship between patient activation level and self-care management among elderly patients with chronic illness. Materials and methods: This descriptive and relational study was conducted with 503 patients aged 65 and older. "Personal Information Form", "Self-care Management Scale in Chronic Illness" and " Patient Activation Measure" was used to collect data. The Chi-squared test, Mann Whitney U,Kruskal Wallis tests and Spearman correlation test were used to evaluate the data. Results: The mean age of the elderly patients with chronic illness was 75.8±7.6. The mean Patient Activation Measure score was 51.3±14.8, and the mean Self-care Management Scale in Chronic Illness score was 99.1 ±10.7. 46.5% of the participants had a low level of activation. A positive and statistically significant correlation was found between the Patient Activation Measure and Self-care Management scale scores. Conclusion: There was a poor association between patient activation and self-care management in these elderly patients with chronic illness. As the activity of the elderly patients participating in this study increased, their self-care management levels also increased. It is thought that the evaluation of activity and self-care levels in order to improve the health outcomes of elderly patients with chronic diseases is important in terms of determining the interventions that should be applied individually. Keywords: Chronic illness; elderly; patient activation; self-care; self-management