People with osteoarthritis of the knee must often change their life-style to improve their self-care. This change can be experienced as a burden. My study of this burden is intended to provide information for healthcare providers working with patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. My descriptive research studied self-care burden and quality of life, and the relationship between self-care burden and quality of life among patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. I gave questionnaires to a sample group of 114 patients with osteoarthritis of the knee in Songkhla province, Thailand. Patients perceived that they had a moderate level of self-care burden and a high level of quality of life. Self-care items with the highest burden scores were the need to avoid sitting on the floor, on the heels, or cross-legged, standing/ walking for a long time, and the need to rest knee joints when experiencing severe pain and keep an optimal weight. Among patients with osteoarthritis of the knee, those reporting a higher self-care burden tended to report a lower quality of life( r= 0.25 P<0.01). The moderate level of self-care burden of most osteoarthritis knee patients means they can without much difficulty be active in an adjusted life-style because their condition is not severe. This study provides knowledge of self-care practices of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. It can help healthcare providers understand the burden of patients with change or increase in self-care demand due to chronic illness. These findings can also be used as information for developing an intervention program to facilitate the self-care ability of patients with osteoarthritis of the knee performing selfcare actions.

M.N.S. ADULT NURSING มหาวิทยาลัยมหิดล ปี 2546

care, of, osteoarthritis, Quality, Knee, life, BURDEN, SELF