Self-Care Processes as Predictors of Quality of Life in Adults With Moyamoya Disease: A Structural Equation Modeling Study.

Background

Moyamoya disease is a chronic cerebrovascular condition requiring ongoing self-management to prevent complications. Riegel's theory of self-care in chronic illness posits that factors such as disease knowledge, self-efficacy, social support, and access to care influence self-care maintenance, monitoring, and management, which in turn affect health outcomes and quality of life (QoL). Aim: To test a structural equation model of factors influencing self-care and outcomes in adults with moyamoya disease based on Riegel's self-care theory.

Methods

A cross-sectional survey of 211 adults with moyamoya disease collected data on disease knowledge, self-efficacy, social support, access to care, self-care maintenance, monitoring, management, health status, and QoL (Korean version of the 12-Item Short Form Health Survey). Structural equation modeling was performed using IBM SPSS Statistics 30.0 and AMOS 30.0 to test the hypothesized model.

Results

The proposed model demonstrated good fit. Disease knowledge, self-efficacy, social support, and access to care were significantly associated with self-care maintenance, monitoring, and management. These self-care processes, in turn, were positively related to better health status and higher QoL. The model explained a substantial proportion of variance in health status and QoL.

Conclusion

The findings support the applicability of Riegel's self-care theory in moyamoya disease. Interventions to enhance patients' disease knowledge, self-efficacy, social support, and access to care may improve self-care and ultimately lead to better health outcomes and QoL in this population.