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Relationship Among Treatment Adherence, Family Functioning, and Self-Care Agency in Colombian Patients With
Lina María Vargas-Escobar1, Ruth Valle-Ballesteros2, Claudia Marcela Alemán-Parra3
1PhD, RN, Titular Professor, School of Nursing, Universidad El Bosque, Bogotá, Colombia.
Insights
Treatment adherence in cardiovascular disease patients is moderately linked to self-care agency and weakly to family functioning. Understanding these factors aids nurses in developing effective care plans for better patient outcomes.
Area of Science:
- Cardiovascular Disease Research
- Healthcare Adherence Studies
- Family Health Dynamics
Background:
- Cardiovascular disease (CVD) patient adherence is influenced by multiple factors.
- Limited data exists on the interplay between treatment adherence, family functioning, and self-care agency in CVD patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationships among treatment adherence, family functioning, self-care agency, and sociodemographic variables in adult patients with CVD.
- To define self-care agency as Orem's dynamic process of patient engagement in healthcare decisions to improve self-care abilities.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional, observational-analytical study involving 151 adult CVD patients and 108 family members.
- Utilized validated scales to measure treatment adherence, family functioning, and self-care agency.
Main Results:
- A moderate significant correlation (r=.66) was found between treatment adherence and self-care agency.
- A low significant correlation (r=.35) was observed between treatment adherence and family functioning.
- Sociodemographic factors like education and health insurance influenced adherence risk; family functioning correlated with employment and sensory status.
Conclusions:
- Family functioning and self-care agency show low to moderate correlations with treatment adherence in CVD patients.
- Findings provide valuable insights for nurses designing targeted care plans and interventions.
- Results highlight the importance of considering psychosocial and demographic factors in managing CVD treatment adherence.
Background:
Multiple factors affect treatment adherence in individuals with cardiovascular disease. However, information on the relationships among treatment adherence, family functioning, and self-care agency in these patients and their families is limited.
Purpose:
This study was developed to determine the relationships among treatment adherence, family functioning, self-care agency, and sociodemographic variables in patients with cardiovascular disease. Self-care agency, as defined by Orem, is the dynamic process patients use to engage in their own healthcare that involves discerning and addressing factors that allow their making decisions that improve self-care abilities.
Methods:
This cross-sectional, observational-analytical study enrolled 151 adult patients with cardiovascular diseases who had undergone pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments and 108 family members of these patients who had consented to participate. Measurements were performed using the "Questionnaire for measuring treatment adherence in patients with cardiovascular disease," the "Family Functioning Assessment Scale," and the "Self-care Agency Scale."
Results:
Of the 151 patients, 119 (78.8%) were assessed as having a low risk of nonadherence, 60 (39.7%) as having low family functioning, and 131 (86.8%) as having high self-care agency. Treatment adherence and self-care agency showed a moderate and significant correlation ( r = .66, p < .001). Similarly, treatment adherence and family functioning showed a low but significant correlation ( r = .35, p < .001). Moreover, significant multivariate associations were found among the variables of interest. Patients with a low risk of nonadherence were found to be more likely to have a secondary or postsecondary education, not to have vision or hearing problems, and to have a contributory affiliation mode with the health system or private health insurance. In addition, participants with moderate or high levels of family functioning were less likely to be workers or to not have hearing or vision problems. Finally, significant differences were noted between patients with low self-care agency and those with high self-care agency in terms of kinship relationship with family members and affiliation mode with the health system.
Conclusions/Implications For Practice:
The results of this research help clarify the issue of treatment adherence in patients with cardiovascular disease. Although family functioning and self-care agency were found to be low to moderately correlated with treatment adherence, relevant information regarding these variables and sociodemographic variables is presented in this study. Nurses may use these results as a reference to design nursing care plans and interventions to address the conditions of their patients more appropriately.
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