Self-care agency and symptom management in patients treated for mood disorder.

Symptom management of patients with mood disorder, such as depression and bipolar disorder, influences quality of life and relapse. This article describes a study of symptom recognition and management and the ability of self-care agency to predict symptom management. A purposive sample of 45 subjects was studied. Step-wise multiple regression analyses of self-care agency with symptom management resulted in self-care agency explaining 37% of the variance in symptom management at 2 months posthospitalization. Patients with mood disorders have long-term vulnerability for relapse after hospital stabilization. Nurses need to continue to find ways to assess and strengthen symptom management and self-care in these relapse-prone individuals. Copyright 2001 by W.B. Saunders Company