ABSTRACT
Objective To explore the present situation of self-care ability among elderly hypertensive patients in the community and its influential factors.Methods 310 elderly hypertensive patients in Hengyang community were studied with a demographic questionnaire,ESCA and SSRS.Results The total mean scores of self-care ability were (105.43±19.25).68.71％ of the elderly hypertensive patients were at medium level and 29.35％ of them were at high level.Statistically significant relations were found between self-care ability and the following condition factors:education level,marital status,monthly income,obtaining health education status,social support,subjective support,availability,objective support and the severity of hypertension.There were no significant relations with sex and occupations.The results of multiple regression showed that the main factors ranged from high to low including the severity of hypertension,education level,monthly income,subjective support,obtaining health education status and marital status.Conclusions Community health nurses should aim directly at the influential factors,take effective measures and improve their self-care ability.