Study of Disease Self-Management and Social Activity Status of Older Adults With Chronic Disease

Older adults with chronic health conditions, disease-related self-management is of great importance for maintaining the balance between daily activities and social interactions that are often disrupted by chronic disease. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between disease self-management and social activity status of older adults with chronic disease.

This descriptive and correlational study was carried out with 379 older adults between April and July 2024. Data were collected using three instruments: Patient Information Form, Self-Management Scale in Chronic Diseases (CDSMS) and Social Activities Scale for Community-Dwelling Older People Requiring Support (SASOS).

The mean age of the older adults with chronic diseases who participated in the study was 70.74 ± 4.91 years. Forty percent of the older adults had two or more chronic diseases, and 72.56% of them rated their health status as good. It was found that the total score of the social activities scale for the older adults showed a positive significant relationship with coping with stigmatisation (r = 0.492, p < 0.001), health care effectiveness (r = 0.290, p < 0.001) and treatment compliance (r = 0.384, p < 0.001), and a negative significant relationship with self-stigmatisation (r = -0.350, p < 0.001). Four distinct 'simple linear regression analyses' were carried out to examine the structure of SASOS and CDSMS sub-dimensions. All models were significant and explained the cumulative variance in the dependent variable.

The results of this study lend support to the notion that an increase in chronic disease self-management has a psycho-social impact on social relationships. These results are deemed to contribute to the development of new interventions that facilitate self-care practices and increase socialisation at both individual and social levels. To more accurately capture the dimensions of this experience and its consequences for health, measures of chronic disease self-management should be developed based on the collaboration between patients and health professionals and aimed at providing social incentives for patients.