Evaluation of the influence of Orem’s self-care model application on quality of life (QOL) of patients with hypothyroid goiter referred to health and therapeutic clinics in Yasouj city 2010

Abstract

Purpose

This study was conducted to evaluate the influence of Orem’s self-care Modelapplication on Quality of Life (QoL) of patients with hypothyroid goiter.

Materials and methods

In this case-control clinical trial, 70 patients including 9 males and 61 females with hypothyroid goiter referred to health and therapeutic clinics in Yasouj city were randomly divided into two groups: 35 patients in experimental group and 35 patients in control group. Data collection tools were demographic questionnaire, Orem cognition questionnaire, Short Form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) and self-care checklist. Experimental group received a self-care program consisted of eight 45 minutes training sessions according to self-care requirements. Patients’ life quality was assessed at baseline and three months following the intervention by using QoL measure (SF-36). The QoL was compared between two groups. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 18.

Results

At baseline, QoL was comparable between experimental group (43.28±17.26) and control (47.19±14.26). QoL in experimental group, generally and eight domains, significantly improved following intervention (P=0.001). However, control group showed no considerable differencein QoL along study time; (P=0.73). After intervention, QoL in experimental group (79.64±11.86) was significantly higher than that in control group (46.29±17.56); (P=0.001).

Conclusion

Applying self-care according to Orem’s Model could improve health-related QoL in patients with hypothyroid goiter.