Self-management and family support in chronic diseases

Abstract

Objective: The purpose was to evaluate the behavior of self-management in people with: diabetes, hypertension and cancer, and to analyze the relationship between self-management and family support.

Methods: This study has cross-sectional and correlational design. A convenience sample was used. The study was conducted at the Sanitary District Number 2 of Tampico, Tamaulipas, México. The sample consisted of 299 patients, the scale of self-management in chronic illness: “Partners in Health Scale”. The Kruskal-Wallis test, the Spearman and Kendall-Tau correlation were used for the analysis.

Results and Conclusions: The people of the study showed poor self-management. The statistical significance was found in the adherence dimension, being this difference in the group which was diagnosed with cancer, vs the diabetes and hypertension groups. The results of the family APGAR showed that 25% of the participants had moderate and severe family dysfunction; the results also show that this family support is not the only factor to consider in this behavior, although the statistical results were significant, yet this relationship is medium or low.