Introduction & Objective: Nigeria is one of the developing countries with a major burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) without disease self-management programme in its healthcare system. This study aimed to determine the baseline self-efficacy levels of Nigerian patients with chronic NCDs.
Methods: This is a cross-sectional study of patients with NCDs attending tertiary level clinics with full compliments of NCD healthcare professionals. Patients were interviewed on ten-Self-Efficacy questionnaires to Manage Chronic Disease (SEMCD) item scales that were appropriate for the Nigerian population. The patients were assessed under: (i) exercise regularly, (ii) help from community, family and friends, (iii) communication with physician, (iv) manage disease and (v) manage symptom self-efficacy domains. Data were analysed both descriptively and statistically using the SPSS software.
Results: The results showed that more females (59.4%) than males (40.6%) attended clinics during the 3 months study period, and the mean age of the patients did not differ between gender (p>0.05). About 40% of all the patients manage their NCDs with medications alone, a trend that is similar in male and female patients (p>0.05). While all the patients had a relatively lower self-efficacy scores under regular exercise scale (52-55%) and manage disease symptoms scale (53-55%), they tended towards higher self-efficacy scores under getting assistance from community, family, and friends (79-80%) and communication with attending physicians (81-85%).
Conclusion: Nigeria patients with NCDs at tertiary level institution clinics are less than optimal in disease self-management care. The observed sub-optimal self-efficacy levels might be a contributing factor to high premature NCD deaths in this population. It is recommended that this study population will benefit from introduction and implementation of disease self-management programme in the healthcare system.
C.E. Ezenwaka: None.
