Introduction: Self-care is one of the important aspects of treatment in Multiple Sclerosis. So, regarding the necessity of attention to facts, and the determinants of one behavior for the purpose of maximizing the effect of interventional program, the study was conducted aimed to determining self-care status of Multiple Sclerosis and related factors to these behaviors based on the health belief model.
Methods: The design of the study was descriptive correlational. One hundred and twenty patients were selected by simple random sampling from patients who were the member of MS assembly of Yazd. The instrument of data collection was a questionnaire which evaluated factors related to self-care behaviors in MS disease which was included the patient's perception of the signs and constructs of health belief model and self-care behaviors. Data were analyzed using Pearson Correlation, ANOVA, t-test, Spearman correlation, and multiple regression analysis in SPSS software 20.
Results: On average, participants performed 51.47 percent of self-care behaviors. Among different fields of self-care behaviors, the use of small weights for the decrease in ataxia and shake hands and feet, devoted regular time to urination, and the performance of proper exercises were of less frequency. The predictive power of perceived severity and cues to action was significant and the perceived severity was the strongest predictor. Meanwhile, all the constructs of health belief model predicted 9.8 percent changes in the self-care behaviors.
Conclusion: With regard to the fact that the most important factors related to the self-care were identified perceived severity and cues to action, it is essential to be emphasized more on perceived severity and cues to action intervention programs. In other words, with regard to the low predictive power of health belief model, it is recommended to be used of other models in next studies.