Fear of intimacy with helping professionals and its impact on elderly Chinese

The present study aimed to investigate the attitudes of Chinese older adults toward seeking help from healthcare professionals, and its impact on their self-care ability and medication adherence.

A cross-sectional study using a questionnaire survey was carried out. A convenience sample of 301 older adults was recruited from six health centers in Macao, People's Republic of China. The Chinese versions of Fear of Intimacy with Helping Professionals (C-FIHP), Exercise of Self-care Agency (C-ESCA) and Morisky 4-Item Self-Report Measure of Medication-Taking Behavior (C-MMAS) were used to measure the study variables.

Chinese older adults who were married and had comorbidity with arthritis showed significantly negative attitudes toward seeking help form healthcare professional than those who were not married (P < 0.05) and did not have arthritis (P < 0.01). There are significant negative correlations between C-FIHP with C-ESCA (P < 0.01) and C-MMAS-4 (P < 0.01). Regression analysis identified three predicative factors of fear of intimacy with helping professionals: marital status, comorbidity with arthritis and self-care agency, which accounted for 23.9% of variance.

The present study suggests that Chinese older adults' fear of intimacy with helping professionals impacts their perceived self-care ability and medication adherence. The three predictive factors identified in the present study might provide useful pointers for healthcare professionals to customize an effective approach to encourage and engage older adults. This might improve the self-care ability and medication adherence of older adults, which will result in a better quality of life and psychosocial well-being.