To evaluate the impact of self-regulation theory guided nursing intervention on illness perception and lifestyle in patients with ischemic stroke.

A total of 120 patients with ischemic stroke diagnosed at the Department of Neurology of a hospital in Anhui Province from January 2016 to February 2017 were selected. The chosen patients with ischemic stroke were divided into a control group and an intervention group, with 60 cases in each group. The control group received routine health education at discharge, and the intervention group received intervention based on self-regulation theory after discharge. Twelve weeks after intervention, the Chinese Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (CIPQ-R) and Health Promoting Lifestyle Profile II (HPLP II) were used to compare the illness perception and lifestyle. Hospitalization days, age, and NIHSS score were compared between the two groups using the t-test, and the scores of each dimension of the CIPQ-R and HPLP II were compared between groups using covariance analysis. The distribution of gender, educational level, marital status, family residence, family monthly income, and medical expense payment method was represented by the number of cases (%), and the Chi-square test was used for their comparisons between groups.

There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in the number of days of hospitalization, age, NIHSS score, or general data such as gender, educational level, marital status, family residence, family monthly income, and distribution of medical expense payment methods (P>0.05). After intervention, the scores of the six CIPQ-R dimensions (consequences, personal control, treatment control, illness coherence, timeline cyclical, and emotional representations) were all significantly better than those in the control group [(9.86±5.26)vs (18.64±7.20), F=29.869, P<0.001; (29.57±1.07) vs (23.00±3.43), F=73.793, P<0.001; (21.89±0.92)vs (18.24±3.10), F=35.875, P<0.001; (21.36±3.01) vs (14.24±4.19), F=58.308, P<0.001; (6.71±1.69)vs (10.64±3.26), F=34.877, P<0.001; (13.43±3.58) vs (21.68±7.09), F=38.957, P<0.001)]; and the six dimension scores and overall score of HPLP II were also significantly better than those of the control group [(19.25±3.19) vs (17.60±3.41), F=10.382, P=0.002; (22.00±4.17) vs (18.28±4.47), F=19.084, P< 0.001; (19.18±3.69) vs (13.40±3.94), F=34.540, P<0.001; (19.36±2.75) vs (15.52±4.32), F=20.764, P< 0.001; (26.61±3.10) vs (22.52±4.04), F=48.887, P< 0.001; (17.71±2.24) vs (15.72±2.62), F=17.315, P< 0.001; (124.11±14.80) vs (103.04±16.85), F=41.466, P< 0.001] .

Intervention based on self-regulation theory can alter the illness perception and lifestyle of patients with ischemic stroke.