The relationship of self-management skills and the quality of life among solitary elderly patients with hypertension

Abstract

Objective To investigate the relationship of self-management skills and the quality of life among solitary elderly patients with hypertension.Methods 110 cases of solitary elderly patients with hypertension were measured with self-designed Self-management of Hypertension Scale and Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the correlation of them was analyzed.Results The levels of self-management skills of elderly hypertensive patients was at a middle level,and the mean score of self-management skills was (78.6 ± 5.2) points.The total score of SF-36 of patients with good self-management skills was higher than those with bad self-management skills.The therapy management,catering management,psychosocial management,sports management and overall quality of self-management of elderly patients with hypertension were positively correlated with survival quality.The factors influencing self-management ability of patients incuded education,gender,social resource utilization,psychological conditions.Conclusions Community health nurses should pay attention to self-management skills such as diet,exercise,therapy,social and psychological aspects in elderly hypertensive patients in order to improve their quality of life.Furthermore community nurses should strengthen intervention for solitary eldedy males with lower education level,poor utilization of social resources to improve their self-management skills. Key words: Solitary elderly people; Hypertension; Self-management; Quality of life