Perceptions of self‐care in Sweden: a cross‐cultural replication

Abstract

This cross-cultural study attempted to replicate the nursing phenomena of self-care and self-concept using two self-reporting instruments. Both instruments were translated from English into Swedish and administered on a convenience basis to 187 Swedish subjects, 117 women and 70 men, ages 19-66, compulsory to university educated, and residing in the southern districts of Sweden. Swedish mean self-care scores were lower (112.5) than the United States normative group of university nursing and psychology students, but the mean was comparable to East German (113.6) reported from an earlier study. Self-concept scores were similar to Nebraska teachers and East Germans. Alpha coefficients were used to assess reliability, ANOVA for differences, and item correlation of self-care agency were organized by factor analysis with four subfactors identified. The derived subscales appeared to identify potentially useful factors to aid in unravelling the complexity of the self-care agency construct. Study limitations were addressed. Cross-cultural directives for international nursing are discussed.

Self‐care agency and factors related to this agency among patients with hypertension

“…Whetstone and Hansson (1989) found that mean scores for self‐care was lower for Swedish participants and there were no differences between the Swedish and the East German groups. Due to their cultural backgrounds, their perceptions and knowledge of care practices may differ.…”

“…Cross‐culturally, its meaning can be totally different. It may be hard to establish comparisons and generalities (Laffrey 1985, Whetstone & Hansson 1989).…”

“…Preventive health care should be developed by giving them a chance to adapt to and thus cope with their own environment. Health and self‐care are related to economic, social and psychical factors (Whetstone & Hansson 1989, Lukkarinen & Hentinen 1997, Lee 1999, Wang & Laffrey 2001, Jokisalo et al. 2002).…”

Systematic review of measurement properties of self‐reported instruments for evaluating self‐care in adults

“…,b, Söderhamn & Cliffordson ); Denyes Self‐Care Practice Instrument (DSCPI‐90) (Andrews et al . ); Denyes Self‐Care Agency Instrument (DSCAI) (McBride ); Exercise of Self‐Care Agency (ESCA) (Kearney & Fleischer , McBride , , Whetstone , Whetstone & Hansson , Yamashita , Wang & Laffrey ); Lorensen's Self‐care Capability Scale (LSCS) (Lorensen , Dale et al . ); Perceived Self‐Care Agency Questionnaire (PSCAQ) (Weaver , Bottorff , McBride ); Self‐care Ability Scale for the Elderly (SASE) (Söderhamn et al .…”

Use of factor analysis in Journal of Advanced Nursing: literature review

“…It was not possible to calculate a subject to item ratio in five papers and this omission spanned from 1989 (Whetstone & Hansson 1989) to 1999 (Bond et al. 1999) and the reasons varied: in some cases no information at all was provided about either the sample size or the number of items.…”