Self-care Behavior for Stroke Prevention and Associated Factors among Thais with Atrial Fibrillation: A Cross-Sectional Study

Atrial fibrillation significantly increases the risk of stroke. Proper self-care behavior and anticoagulants are vital for stroke prevention. However, there is limited research on this topic among Thais with atrial fibrillation. This descriptive cross-sectional study examined the association among personal factors, health literacy, intention to self-care, and self-care behavior for stroke prevention in Thai people with atrial fibrillation. Ninety participants receiving anticoagulant therapy were purposively recruited at a tertiary hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Data collection was undertaken from March to June 2021. Participants were asked to complete four questionnaires: the Self-care Behavior for Stroke Prevention Questionnaire, Health Literacy for Stroke Prevention Questionnaire, Intention to Self-care for Stroke Prevention Questionnaire, and Patient Health Data Form. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, Spearman’s rank correlation, and hierarchical regression analysis. Results indicated that 74.4% of the participants were older adults with atrial fibrillation, and 96.7% had received warfarin for an average of 5.13 years. Age, educational level, comorbidities, anticoagulant duration, health literacy, and intention to self-care were significant predictors, explaining 32.8% of the variance in self-care behavior for stroke prevention, with intention to self-care being the strongest. Since the variance of self-care behavior in this study was only 32.8%, other factors, such as family support, quality of the patient-provider relationship, and care provision, should be considered in future studies to provide a more comprehensive understanding of self-care behavior for stroke prevention. Nurses can use this study to design nursing interventions promoting health literacy and the intention to self-care, thereby enhancing self-care behavior to prevent complications from atrial fibrillation.