Applying Orem's self-care deficit theory to explore the self-care behaviors of university students as hepatitis B carriers

Background: The hepatitis B virus is the most important risk factor of chronic liver diseases in Taiwan. Hepatitis B carriers have a 100-fold relative risk of developing liver cancer compared with non-carriers. Therefore, understanding the self-care behavior and related factors of hepatitis B carriers is important. Purpose: This study applied Orem's self-care deficit theory to investigate the self-care behaviors and related factors of hepatitis B carriers in one university located in Taoyuan County, northern Taiwan. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 126 college students with hepatitis B and collected data using structured questionnaires. Results: Results found standardized scores for student self-care behaviors of students to average 73.44. Highest standardized subscale scores for self-care behaviors were smoking-drinking habits (91.50) and taking folk medicine prescriptions (91.17). The lowest were sleeping patterns (54.17) and regular follow-up (58.83). These showed that the most students did not smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol or take folk medicines, but often kept late hours and had a generally low level of regular medical follow-up. Self-care demand, which explained 29.4% of variance, was found to be the most important predictor of self-care behaviors profile. Other predictors included self-efficacy and knowledge of hepatitis B, which, between the two, explained 34.2% of variance. Conclusions / Implications for Practice: From the perspective of nursing practice, we suggested strategies to enhance regular follow-up, time management and health education empowerment for hepatitis B carriers studying at university. In addition, future studies should broaden the scope of research to include numerous sampling locations and use a longitudinal study. Lastly, measuring tool reliability and validity should be tested further.