The Relationship between Perceived Social Support and Self‑Care Behaviors in Patients with Ischemic Heart Disease

Investigators have identified sufficient self‑care as an important factor in reducing health‑care costs and improving health outcomes in cardiac patients. Therefore, the purpose of the present study was to determine the relationship between perceived social support (PSS) and self‑care behaviors (SCBs) in patients with ischemic heart disease.

The present work was a cross‑sectional study. Patients with ischemic heart disease were selected using the convenience sampling method. Data gathering tools used in this study were questionnaires of Zimet multidimensional social support and Miller self‑care. The data were analyzed in SPSS 18 software using Spearman’s correlation and Mann–Whitney tests by significant coefficient <0.05.

It was revealed that income, ethnicity, gender, and the type of employment had significant effects on the scores of PSS and SCBs. The mean score of PSS was 44.60 ± 14.30 and that of SCBs for all the patients was calculated at 67.12 ± 17.04. The majority of the patients had a high score of PSS, while, in case of SCBs, the score showed an undesirable condition. The results revealed a direct and significant relationship between PSS and SCBs in patients with ischemic heart disease (P < 0.05).

The score of PSS wasin a satisfactory range; the unsuitable score of SCBsshowed an urgent need of providing education for myocardial ischemia patients to improve the level of their self‑care affairs. In addition, the caretakers of the patient should be trained to pay attention to all the important aspects of PSS.