Self-Care Agency and Associated Factors in Heart Transplant Patients

İngilizce (OpenAlex)

Objective: Heart transplant patients must maintain their self-care at the highest level and take responsibility for their own treatment and care. The study determined the self-care agency of heart transplant patients and associated factors. Material and Methods: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The study universe consisted of 117 patients over the age of 18 who underwent heart transplant surgery at a university hospital. The study sample included 50 patients. The research data were collected using the Self-Care Agency Scale. Results: Only 38% of the patients defined themselves as independent in their daily activities. Of them, 94% received support from one of their family members in their daily life activities. Their mean self-care agency score was 97.10±11.31. Age, marital status, education level, and people helping them to perform daily life activities did not affect the heart transplant patients' self-care agency. However, economic status did affect their self-care agency. Conclusion: The heart transplant patients had low self-care agency scores, which shows that patients' self-care responsibility and health protection behaviors were inadequate.