Mediating Effect of Self-management on Health Empowerment and Quality of Life of Elderly Comorbid Patients

Abstract Background Under the general trend of global aging, comorbidity among the elderly is becoming more and more common, which may have a certain impact on the quality of life of the elder. There is evidence that self-management and health empowerment are positively correlated with quality of life. However, limited research has explored the potential mechanism among them. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to explore the interaction path and mechanism among health empowerment, self-management and quality of life of elderly comorbid patients, and to provide theoretical basis for formulating intervention programs to improve their quality of life in the later stage. Objective To explore the relationship among health empowerment, self-management and quality of life of elderly patients with comorbidity. Methods 309 elderly patients with comorbidity in Zhengzhou City, Henan Province were investigated by questionnaire, including Health Empowerment Scale, Chronic Disease Self-management Scale and SF-12 Scale. Results The score of health empowerment, self-management and quality of life of the elderly patients with comorbidity were (92.18±8.917), (136.58±12.42) and (89.30±8.72) respectively. Health empowerment, self-management and quality of life of elderly patients with comorbidity were positively correlated (P < 0.01). The direct effect of health empowerment on quality of life is 0.493, the indirect effect is 0.207, the total effect is 0.724, and the intermediary effect accounts for 28.75% of the total effect. Self-management plays a partial intermediary role between health empowerment and quality of life. Conclusion The health empowerment, self-management and quality of life of elderly comorbid patients need to be further improved. The self-management of elderly comorbid patients plays a partial intermediary role between health empowerment and quality of life, and the quality of life of patients can be effectively improved by improving their health empowerment and self-management ability.