The Status Quo and Influencing Factors of Self-Management Behavior in Patients with Recurrent Gout in China: A Cross-Sectional Study.

OBJECTIVE

To understand the status quo and influencing factors of self-management behavior in patients with recurrent gout, and to provide evidence for the development of targeted interventions to improve the self-management behavior of gout patients.

METHODS

From October 2022 to July 2023, convenience sampling was used to conduct a questionnaire survey on 223 patients with recurrent gout who were admitted to the Department of Rheumatology and Immunology of the First Hospital of China Medical University. The cross-sectional study used a structured questionnaire (including information on Sociodemographic and Clinical Characteristics), Gout self-management Behavior Assessment scale, Gout Knowledge Measurement questionnaire, Chronic Disease self-efficacy Scale, Medical Coping Modes Scale, and Social Support Rating scale to investigate. SPSS26.0 software was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The score of self-management behavior of 223 patients with recurrent gout was 41-180 (124.759±24.81). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that: Age, gout stage, awareness of gout knowledge, whether there were other chronic diseases, the pain degree of the last gout attack, medical coping style, education level, the number of gout attacks in the past year and self-efficacy were the main associated factors of gout patients' self-management. These variables explained 48.80% of the influencing factors of self-management (P<0.001).

CONCLUSION

At present, the self-management behavior of patients with recurrent gout is at an upper-middle level. To improve the self-management behavior of patients with recurrent gout, we should pay attention to the key groups such as young people, low education level and lack of gout knowledge. To improve the self-management behavior of recurrent gout patients by improving their disease perception, enhancing their self-efficacy and encouraging them to actively face the disease.