Abstract:
The purposes of this research were to examine the level of stress and to determine abilities of perceived severity of illness, knowledge of ischemic heart disease, social support, hospitalization with ischemic heart disease experiences, self esteem, and activities of daily living in predicting stress in elderly with ischemic heart disease during health-illness transition post hospital discharge. The subjects of this study were 120 elderly with ischemic heart disease who were selected through convenience sampling method. Data were collected by using demographic questionnaire. Perceived severity of illness. Knowledge of ischemic heart disease, Social support, Self esteem, Bartel ADL Index and Stress of elderly with ischemic heart disease questionnaire. The instruments were content validated and tested for reliability. The Cronbach alpha were between 0.71 and 0.90. The statistics used in this study were percentage, mean. standard deviation, multiple regression. The major results of this study were as follows : 1. Stress in elderly with ischemic heart disease during health-illness transition post hospital discharge was perceived as slightly higher than normal ( X = 39.04. S.D. = 10.87 ) 2. All predictors together significantly accounted for 69.9 percent of the variance (R² = .699, F = 43.673). Perceived severity of illness, self esteem and activities of daily living were found to contribute significantly to the prediction of stress in elderly with ischemic heart disease during health-illness transition post hospital discharge (Beta = .582 P <.05. Beta = -.197 P <.05, Beta = -.193 P <.05, respectively). However, knowledge of ischemic heart disease, social support, and hospitalization with ischemic heart disease experiences could not statistically predict stress in elderly with ischemic heart disease during health-illness transition post hospital discharge. The results from this study indicate the important contribution that perceived severity of illness, self esteem and activities of daily living were predictors of stress in elderly with ischemic heart disease during health-illness transition post hospital discharge. It can be used as guideline for nursing intervention to reduce stress in elderly with ischemic heart disease during health-illness transition post hospital discharge.