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BACKGROUND: Self-care is crucial in the prevention and treatment of chronic diseases. It is important to identify patients who need support with self-care. OBJECTIVES: This study introduces a self-care preparedness index (SCPI) and examines its associations with health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and other outcomes. METHODS: A cross-sectional study of adults (n = 301) with hypertension, coronary artery disease, or diabetes in primary health care. Based on the self-care questionnaire, SCPI was formed. A higher SCPI value indicated better self-care preparedness. We examined correlations and a hypothesis of linearity between SCPI and HRQoL (15D), depressive symptoms (BDI), patient activation (PAM), and health-related outcomes (self-rated health, life satisfaction, physical activity, body mass index [BMI], waist, low-density lipoprotein). Exploratory factor analysis was used to test the construct validity of SCPI. RESULTS: A total of 293 patients with a mean age of 68 (54.3% women) were included in the analysis. BDI, BMI, and waist had a negative linear trend with SCPI. Self-rated health, physical activity, patient activity, and life satisfaction had a positive linear trend with SCPI. SCPI correlated with HRQoL (r = 0.31 [95% CI: 0.20 to 0.41]). Exploratory factor analysis of the SCPI scores revealed 3 factors explaining 82% of the total variance. CONCLUSIONS: SCPI seems to identify individuals with different levels of preparedness in self-care. This provides means for health care providers to individualize the levels of support and counselling. SCPI seems to be a promising tool in primary health care but needs further validation before use in large scale trials or clinical practice.
Self-care is essential in the prevention and treatment of many diseases. Self-care means taking care of the treatment of chronic condition with the support of health care professionals. Patients have different capabilities and resources to perform self-care and a varying need for support and counselling. Identifying self-care preparedness might help health care providers to support patients more appropriately. This study introduced a short tool for screening self-care preparedness in primary health care. We used the data of 293 adults with hypertension, diabetes, or coronary artery disease in primary health care in Finland between 2017 and 2018. The patients' mean age was 68 (54.3% women). Low self-care preparedness was reported by 79 (27.0%), moderate by 115 (39.2%), and high by 99 (33.8%) patients. Patients with lower self-care preparedness were more obese, had lower physical activity, more depressive symptoms, lower self-rated health, lower quality of life, lower patient activation, and lower satisfaction with life. This study provided preliminary information that such a tool could be used to identify preparedness for self-care.
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In individuals with type 2 diabetes (T2D), comorbid depression leads to increased health care costs and unsatisfactory treatment outcomes. Supporting healthy behaviors and self-efficacy might provide means to prevent depressive symptoms. We assessed the effects of motivational interviewing (MI) - based self-care promotion that specifically targets health behaviors, on depressive symptoms in adults with T2D. We followed PRISMA guidelines and searched Pubmed, Scopus, PsycINFO, Cinahl, and Cochrane Library to find randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published up to February 2023. Eligible RCTs had to target the T2D adult population, examine MI-based interventions that focus on multiple health behaviors, and measure depressive symptoms on a validated scale. Standardized mean differences (SMD) with 95% confidence intervals were calculated using a random-effects model. We used the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) approach to assess the certainty of the evidence. After the screening, eleven studies with 2,682 individuals were eligible for the narrative synthesis. A meta-analysis of nine studies favored interventions with a pooled SMD of -0.19 (95% Cl = -0.34 to -0.05, p = 0.008, I2 = 52%). Due to the indirectness and imprecision of the evidence, we assessed the certainty of evidence based on GRADE as low. MI-based self-care promotion with a focus on health behaviors and implemented by a well MI-trained person had a preventive effect on depressive symptoms among adults with T2D. However, the certainty of evidence remained low. In future trials, the effect of MI-based self-care promotion on depression should be studied in clinically depressed populations.