Self-Care Behaviors among Patients after Cardiac Surgery in Saudi Arabia: Application of Orem’s Theory of Self-Care

Aims. To examine the self-care behaviors of Saudi patients who had cardiac surgery after hospital discharge and to investigate how much variation in self-care behavior may be attributed to patients’ basic conditioning factors (BCFs). Background. Self-care behaviors following cardiac surgery should be appropriate for the patient’s circumstances to decrease hospital readmissions and maintain good health. Design. A cross-sectional design guided this study. Orem’s Theory of Self-Care was applied as a theoretical framework. Materials & Methods. The Self-Care Behavior Scale (SCBS) was used to gather data from 150 patients who experienced cardiac surgery after they were discharged from cardiac centers in two large cities in Saudi Arabia. Results. The two self-care behaviors performed most frequently concerned taking medications as prescribed. The other three self-care behaviors frequently performed were avoiding any strain, assessing all incisions for signs of infection, and contacting a physician if any signs of infection appeared. There was a statistically significant difference between patients’ total self-care behaviors according to their BCFs. Married patients reported significantly more self-care behaviors than single patients. Patients with only valve replacement (VR) surgery performed more self-care behaviors than the coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) and VR groups. These factors positively influence (61.2%) self-care behavior and performance. Conclusion. Cardiac surgery patients showed moderate self-care behavior after being discharged from hospital. Furthermore, the results of this study showed statistically significant variation in patients' self-care behaviors based on their BCFs.