The effect of self-care on depression and quality of life of athletes in retirement

Self-care includes addressing basic human needs and maintaining activities related to health and life preservation and is of great importance in the lives of all people, especially retired athletes. Therefore, the present study, which was conducted to determine the effect of self-care on depression and quality of life of athletes in retirement in East Azerbaijan province, was a quasi-experimental study with pretest-posttest and control group. The statistical population was all retired athletes who had completed their professional sports before 2020, from which 50 people were selected by simple random sampling (25 for the experimental group and 25 for the control group). Tools used; The Beck Depression Inventory and the World Health Organization (WHO) Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Self-Care Protocol were administered to participants before and after self-care training, and data were provided through descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance) Were analyzed. Findings showed that self-care training increases quality of life and reduces depression in retired athletes (P <0.05). Therefore, by timely detection of signs and symptoms of depression and the quality of life of individuals, by increasing self-care behaviors and doing so, it can reduce the psychological and physical effects of depression and improve the quality of life.