Self Care Behavior according to the Risk of Vascular Complications in Elderly Women with Hypertension

고혈압 여성노인의 혈관합병증 위험정도에 따른 자가간호 행위

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine self care behaviors according to the risk levels of vascular complications in elderly women with hypertension. Methods: The subjects of this study were 162 women living in the community who had been diagnosed with hypertension in clinics. The data were analysed by the SPSS 10.0 program using descriptive statistics, t-test, and ANOVA with Scheff$\dot{e}$ post-hoc test. Results: The average self care behavior score of the elderly women was 2.79. Total self care behavior was significantly different depending on the risk levels of vascular complications such as systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, ankle-brachial index, and the framingham point score. Among sub-scores of self care behaviors, exercise management was the poorest performance compared with other self care behaviors. Conclusion: This study proved the differences in self care behaviors according to the risk levels of vascular complications. To decrease the prevalence of vascular complication, it is necessary to develop programs specifically to enhance self care behaviors of elderly women with hypertension.