Relationships among Self-care, Self-efficacy, and Social Support in Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

만성 폐쇄성 폐질환자의 자가간호와 자기효능감 및 사회적지지와의 관계

Purpose: This study was to investigate relationships among self-care, self-efficacy and social support in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Method: The subjects were 114 patients with COPD from both inpatient and outpatient department sin a branch hospital of C university located in Gyeonggi-do from April 2005 to May 2005. Self-care was measured by No Hyeon-Suk's (2003) scale, self-efficacy was measured by Wigal et al's (1991) scale, social support was measured by Park Sun-Ju's (2001) scale. Data were analyzed by using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson correlation coefficient, and stepwise multiple regression. Results: The total mean was 3.1 for self-care, 3.5 for self-efficacy, and 4.3 for social support. The levels of self-efficacy and social support were significantly and positively correlated with the level of self-care. The level of self-care was influenced by social support explaining 16% and the level of self-efficacy explaining 6%, giving a total of 22%. Conclusion: The result of this study showed that the patients with COPD carried out self-care better when they had higher levels of self-efficacy and social support. Thus, we will improve the level of self-care of patients with COPD by nursing intervention to increase self-efficacy and social support.