Shaku Fumio, Tsutsumi Madoka, Miyazawa Asako, Takagi Hiroshi, Maeno Tetsuhiro
Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Respiratory Medicine, Nihon University, 30-1 Oyaguchikamimachi, Itabashiku, Tokyo, 173-8610, Japan.
Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan.
BMC Fam Pract. 2015 Jul 29;16:91. doi: 10.1186/s12875-015-0300-3.
The 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.
We 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.
The 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.
HRQOL 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.
世界卫生组织及多个国家政府鼓励针对轻症进行医疗自我照护（包括自我药疗）。因此，影响自我照护的因素受到了研究关注，社会经济地位被确定为其中一个预测因素。尽管已有研究探讨了社会经济地位与患有呼吸道过敏或慢性病患者生活质量（QOL）之间的关系，但生活质量与初级保健中最常见疾病——普通感冒的自我照护行为之间的关系尚未得到研究。因此，我们调查了普通感冒患者生活质量与自我照护行为之间的关系。
我们向日本笠间市参加年度公共卫生检查的499人发放了问卷。收到了398名参与者的有效问卷（平均年龄=59.0岁，标准差=15.8，范围=24 - 87岁；61.4%为女性）。问卷内容包括一个关于治疗普通感冒时采取的典型行为（自我照护或去诊所就诊）的问题、人口统计学信息以及简短健康调查问卷（SF - 8™）——一项评估健康相关生活质量（HRQOL）的8项调查。使用Mann - Whitney U检验调查照护行为与HRQOL之间的关联，显著性水平为p < 0.05。
自我照护组的SF - 8™身体功能、角色 - 身体、身体疼痛、社会功能、角色 - 情感以及身体综合得分的平均分显著高于倾向去诊所就诊的组。
观察发现，在治疗普通感冒时进行自我照护的个体的HRQOL显著高于倾向去健康诊所就诊的个体。尚不清楚是自我照护行为影响生活质量，还是生活质量影响自我照护行为；然而，这一发现凸显了生活质量与自我照护行为之间关系的重要性。应进一步开展研究以调查自我照护行为与生活质量之间因果关系的方向。
