The purpose of this study was to examine self-care practice in patients with allergic rhinitis following the self-care concept and Orem's theory. The sample consisted of patients who received therapy at the out-patient ENT clinic of Songklanagarind Hospital. The sample was 372 allergic rhinitis patients selected using purposive sampling. The data were collected using a Self-Care Practices Evaluation Form of Allergic Rhinitis Patients that the researcher developed. Data were analyzed by percentage, arithmetic mean and standard deviation using SPSS/PC⁺.
The results indicated the following: overall, self-care practice scores among patients with allergic rhinitis were moderate (mean = 2.97). When examining individual aspects of self-care practice, it was found that every aspect was on moderate-average, self-care practice in maintenance of self-value and interaction (mean = 3.41), prevention of hazards and complications (mean = 3.21), compliance with regimen medications and treatment (mean = 3.16), general health maintenance (mean = 2.79), proper rest and relaxation (mean = 2.78) and prevention of hazard and complication (mean = 2.60).
It is recommended that further research should be done to investigate the relationship between some basic conditioning factors and self-care practice of patients with allergic rhinitis, and a health prevention & promotion program undertaken to provide knowledge, positive attitude, and suitable practices for allergic rhinitis patients in order to improve their quality of life.