Symptom Self-Treatment Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults With Heart Disease
Description
BACKGROUND: Among older adults, chronic illness is a common issue. More
importantly, chronic illnesses can have an impact on factors such as sleep, pain, itch, and overall
physical functioning. There is a limited amount of research describing and comparing selfreported
treatment methods for heart disease to symptom control. PURPOSE: The purpose of
this study is to explore self-treatment methods used by community-dwelling older adults with
heart disease to control symptoms. METHODS: For this prospective study a convenience
sample of 39 community-dwelling older adults ages 60 years and older were recruited from
senior centers in urban, rural, and suburban areas in Southeastern Michigan. Participants
completed a one-time paper and pencil survey. RESULTS: Thirty-nine community-dwelling
older adults met inclusion criteria and stated they were diagnosed with heart disease. The mean
number of symptoms reported by these older adults was 2.35 (SD=1.399) with symptom
category frequencies as follows: pain (n=33), itch (n=6), sleep problems (n=14), anxiety (n= 8),
depression (n=5), memory problems (n=9), and wounds/injuries (n=15). In terms of quality of
life, significant differences were found in role limitation due to physical health, role limitation
due to emotional problems, emotional well-being, and social functioning. IMPLICATIONS:
The self-treatment methods of symptom control utilized by community-dwelling older adults
resulted in improvements in their reported quality of life, specifically those related to the
physical, emotional, and social functioning of community-dwelling older adults.
Subject
Older Adults
Heart disease
Self-Treatment methods
Symptom control
Heart disease
Self-Treatment methods
Symptom control