چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:The World Health Organization and several governments encourage medical self-care (including
self-medication) for minor illnesses. Accordingly, the factors that influence self-care have received research
attention, with socioeconomic status identified as one such predictor. Although studies have examined the
relationship
between socioeconomic status and quality of life (QOL) in patients suffering from respiratory allergies or chronic
illnesses, the relationship between QOL and self-care behavior for the common cold, the most common illness seen
in primary care, has not been examined. Therefore, we investigated the relationship between QOL and self-care
behavior in individuals suffering from the common cold.
Methods:We distributed questionnaires to 499 people who attended an annual public health checkup in Kasama
city, Japan. Valid questionnaires were received from 398 participants (mean age = 59.0, SD = 15.8, range = 24–87
years; 61.4 % women). The materials included a question relating to typical actions taken when treating a common
cold (self-care or visiting a health clinic), demographics, and the Short Form-8™(SF-8™)—an 8-item survey that
assesses health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The association of care action and HRQOL were investigated using
Mann–Whitney U tests with a significance level of p < 0.05.
Results:The mean scores for the Physical Functioning, Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, Social Functioning, Role-Emotional,
and Physical Component Summary score of the SF-8™were significantly higher among the self-care group than the
group that preferred visiting a clinic.
Conclusions:HRQOL among individuals who engage in self-care when treating the common cold was observed
to be significantly higher than among individuals who preferred to attend a health clinic. It is unclear whether
self-care behavior affects QOL, or whether QOL affects self-care behavior; however, this finding highlights the
importance of the relationship between QOL and self-care behavior. Additional studies should be conducted in
order to investigate the direction of causality between self-care behaviors and QOL further.