Self‐care agency in persons with rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract
Using a framework based on Orem's self‐care deficit theory, five hypotheses related to conditioning factors in self‐care agency were tested. The study sample consisted of 60 outpatients with a diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis in a large research hospital. Patients completed the Exercise of Self‐Care Agency instrument and the Health Assessment Questionnaire; a physician rated their arthritis severity. Twenty percent of subjects had high scores on self‐care agency, 63% had average scores, and 16% had low scores. The conditioning factor of age was not relatedto selfcare agency. However, education and the duration of illness were related to self‐care agency in this group of persons with rheumatoid arthritis.