Path analysis of health behavior improvement in chronic disease patients based on family function theory / 中华疾病控制杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To explore the path and effect of family cohesion, family adaptability and health remind on health behavior improvement of chronic disease patients, so as to provide evidences for the family-centered chronic disease management. Methods Data of all 1 134 patients with chronic diseases was selected from the national sample survey database. t-test was used to compare family cohesion, family adaptability, health remind and health behavior improvement between different groups, and Pearson correlation was used to analyze the correlation between variables. In the process of path analysis, parameters were estimated by maximum likelihood. Results Among the 1 134 chronic diseases patients, male accounted for 41.4%, and female accounted for 58.6%. The average age of participants was (53.6±10.0) years old. The score of health behavior improvement was (1.89±1.20). Path analysis showed that family cohesion had indirect effects on behavior improvement (effect size=0.072); family adaptability had both direct and indirect effects on behavior improvement (effect size=0.156); Health remind had direct effect on behavior improvement (effect size=0.357). Conclusions The high-level family cohesion and adaptability can improve patients’ health behavior by improving the health remind. It is suggested that family-centered health management services for chronic disease patients should emphasize the participation of family members as well as the improvement of family function.