Self-management practice and its associated factors among rheumatoid arthritis patients attending West Gojjam Public Hospitals, Northwest Ethiopia, 2023

Abstract

ckground: Self-management is the ability of the individual or patient to manage their symptoms, medications, lifestyle modifications, and psychological and socio-cultural consequences of health conditions, however many countries have poor self-management practices. Objective: The aim of this study was to assess self-management practice and its associated factors among rheumatoid arthritis patients in West Gojam public hospitals, 2023. Methods: A multicenter cross-sectional study was conducted to assess self-management practice among 440 rheumatoid arthritis patients from May 1 to August 15, 2023, at West Gojjam public hospitals. Data were collected by using interviewer administered structured questionnaires from patients selected by systematic random sampling technique. Data was entered and analyzed by the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 27). Descriptive statistics were summarized by tables and charts. Multicollinearity was assessed using spearman’s correlation coefficients, and the goodness of fit of the model was confirmed by the Hosmer and Lemeshow test (p = 0.215). Binary logistics regression was used to identify associated factors with self-management practice reported at a 95% confidence interval, with a p-value ≤0.05 considered statistically significant. Result: Out of 440 study participants, 421 were participated with a response rate of 95.7%. The mean age of the participants was 52.85 ± 12.39 years, and the majority of them were female 295 (70.1%). More than half of the participants 241 (57.2%), 95% CI: 52.4%–62.0%) had poor self-management practices. Overall, the self-management practice in this study was poor. Age greater than 54 years old (AOR = 2.839, 95%, CI:1.527-5.279), being single (AOR = 7.183, 95% CI: 2.181-23.658), being unable to read and wriite ( AOR = 5.794, 95%, CI:1.772-18.943), being farmer (AOR = 2.501, 95%, CI:1.09-5.72), having poor self-efficacy (AOR = 5.875, 95%, CI:3.182-10.848), having higher disease activity (AOR = 6.272, 95%, CI: 2.158-18.224), having moderate disease activity (AOR = 2.928,95%, CI:1.148-7.471), and comorbidity (AOR = 3.325, 95%, CI:1.43-7.733) significantly associated with poor self-management practice. Conclusion and recommendation: The self-management practice in this study was poor. It is possible to improve self-management practice by improving self-efficacy, reducing disease activity, and incorporating self-management interventional programs into the usual care of RA patients.