Self-Care among Ulcerative Colitis patients

Background: ulcerative colitis is emerging as a worldwide epidemic, with prevalence of around 1% in North America and some European countries, and a rapid increase in incidence reported in Asia, China and Australasia. A number of recent reports and publications point to the burden that this rising tide of ulcerative colitis is imposing on patients, healthcare services and society (Panés et al., 2014). Study aims to assess self-care among patients with ulcerative colitis disease and its relationship with their demographic data.. Methodology: : a descriptive study design was conducted at Al-Najaf city in the southern region of Iraq in Al-Najaf Al-Ashraf Health Directorate/ Specialized Hospital for Gastrointestinal and Liver Disease and Surgery from February 20th, 2023, to May 21th, 2023, in order to assess self-care among ulcerative colitis patients. The methodological strategies for data collection used an assessment questionnaire survey Results: As the study shows, that the total responses of patients to universal self-care is moderate. Conclusion: the study concludes that the level of patients' self-care is moderate, besides, patients' gender and occupation affect their universal self-care level. Recommendations: health education programs should be applied to increase the patients' knowledge regarding how to improve their self-care and factors that affecting their self-care abilities