Examınatıon of self-care agency and quality of life in individuals with chronic venous disease.

AIM

This study aims to investigate self-care agency and quality of life (QoL) in persons with chronic venous disease of the lower extremities.

METHODS

This descriptive study was carried out between December 2014 and September 2016. The study population consisted of patients admitted to Erzurum Regional Training and Research Hospital Clinic of Surgical Cardiovascular Diseases and who had been diagnosed with lower extremity venous disease. The study sample comprised 312 patients who meet the inclusion criteria among this population admitted at the said dates. For data collection, the Patient Information Form, Self-Care Agency Scale, and Venous Insufficiency Epidemiological and Economic Study - Quality of Life/Symptoms Scale (VEINES-QOL/SYM) were used. The data were evaluated using percentage distribution, means, analysis of variance, post-hoc test, t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test and Kruskal-Wallis test.

RESULTS

The mean Self-Care Agency Scale score of the patients with lower extremity venous disease was 102.33±18.20, and their mean VEINES-QOL/Sym score was 74.95±12.86, indicating a moderate level.

CONCLUSION

As a result, this study found the factors that significantly affected mean Self-Care Agency scores and mean QoL scores of the patients in terms of their level of education, employment status, BMI, smoking habits, and conditions about chronic diseases. Positive correlation was found between mean Self-Care Agency scores and QoL scores of the patients.