Individual Factors Associated with Self-Management in People with Coronary Heart Disease in Colombia
Abstract
Introduction: The rise in mortality from ischemic heart diseases such as acute myocardial infarction in Colombia—14,964 deaths by 2024 (1)—shows the need to identify factors that support self-management, an issue scarcely studied in Latin America, where most research focuses on cardiovascular risk (2–4) or other chronic diseases (4,5).
Objective: To examine correlations between individual factors and self-management in people with acute myocardial infarction in a quaternary hospital in Medellín, Colombia.
Method: A cross-sectional study with 177 participants with confirmed AMI who were close to hospital discharge. After ethical approval and informed consent, the adapted “Partners in Health Scale” (6) and a clinical–sociodemographic questionnaire were applied. Analyses included Wilcoxon, Spearman correlation, and Kruskal–Wallis tests.
Results: Among participants, 69.5% were men and 30.5% were women, with a mean age of 64.86 years (SD 10.85). Regarding education, 47.5% had primary school education. In terms of occupation, 29.9% were homemakers and 26.0% were self-employed. A total of 62.7% reported having a caregiver; of these, 51.3% identified their partner as the caregiver, and 85.5% of caregivers were women. Regarding AMI history, 55.4% had experienced one AMI and 33.9% had experienced two; the mean time since the last AMI was 3.84 months (SD 19.68). Educational information about the disease was provided by health professionals for 88.1% of participants. The mean self-management score was 70.71 (SD 19.87), classified as a moderate level.
Self-management scores were significantly associated with sex (p = 0.0318; p < 0.05), educational level (p = 0.0033; p < 0.05), occupation (p = 0.0033; p < 0.05), time since the last AMI (p = 0.002107; p < 0.05; rho = 0.166), and sources of disease-related education (p = 0.002115; p < 0.05; rho = 0.22). In contrast, age (p = 0.1286; rho = 0.114), marital status (p = 0.4094), and religion (p = 0.9069) were not significant.
Discussion: These findings differ from a systematic review on chronic disease self-management (5,7), which identified several demographic and socioeconomic factors as determinants; however, in this Colombian population, age and marital status were not significant.
Conclusion: Individual factors associated with self-management include gender, educational level, occupation, time since acute myocardial infarction, and sources of disease-related education.
Notes
References:
1. Republic of Colombia. National Administrative Department of Statistics (DANE). Main results of Vital Statistics: Births and deaths for the 2024 year-to-date period (January 1 to December 31, 2024). https://www.dane.gov.co/index.php/estadisticas-por-tema/salud/nacimientos-y-defunciones/defunciones-no-fetales/defunciones-no-fetales-2024
2. Peñarrieta-de Córdova, M. I., Reyes, G., Krederdt, S., Flores, F., Resendiz, E., & Chávez-Flores, E. Self-management in chronic diseases: Type 2 diabetes mellitus, arterial hypertension, and cancer. Revista de Investigación Universidad Norbert Wiener. 2015;(4):43–56. https://bit.ly/352QZOP
3. Irazola, V., Prado, C., Rosende, A., Flood, D., Tsuyuki, R., Ojeda, C. N., et al. Expanding team-based care for hypertension and cardiovascular risk management with HEARTS in the Americas. Pan American Journal of Public Health. 2025;49:e43. https://doi.org/10.26633/RPSP.2025.43
4. Segura Cortes, J. C., & Moreno-Fergusson, M. E. Self-management of diabetes in socioeconomically vulnerable individuals: Feasibility study. Rev Cuid. 2023;14(3):e310215. https://doi.org/10.15649/cuidarte.3102
5. León-Hernández, R. C., Peñarrieta-de Córdova, M. I., Gutiérrez-Gómez, T., Banda-González, O., Flores-Barrios, F., & Rivera, M. C. Predictors of self-management behavior in people with chronic diseases in Tamaulipas. Enferm. univ. 2019;16(2):128–137. https://doi.org/10.22201/eneo.23958421e.2019.2.637
6. Peñarrieta, M. I., Vergel Camacho, O., Schmith Álvarez, L., Lezama Vigo, S., Rivero Álvarez, R., Taipe Cancho, J., et al. Validation of an instrument to assess self-management in chronic diseases in primary health care. Rev. Cient. de Enferm. 2012;VIII(1):64–73.
7. Toro-Aguirre, K., & Urzúa, A. Factors related to chronic disease self-management: A systematic review. Universitas Psychologica. 2024;23:1–14. https://doi.org/10.11144/Javeriana.upsy23.fvae
Sigma Membership
Upsilon Nu
Type
Presentation
Format Type
Text-based Document
Study Design/Type
Cross-Sectional
Research Approach
Quantitative Research
Keywords:
Sustainable Development Goals, Sub-Acute Care, Long-Term Care, Coronary Heart Disease Treatment, Self-Management (Psychology), Disease Management, Columbia
Recommended Citation
Reyes, Jennifer Rojas; Holguín, Edith Arredondo; and Gonzalez, Maria Paulina Florez, "Individual Factors Associated with Self-Management in People with Coronary Heart Disease in Colombia" (2026). International Nursing Research Congress (INRC). 191.
https://www.sigmarepository.org/inrc/2026/presentations_2026/191
Conference Name
37th International Nursing Research Congress
Conference Host
Sigma Theta Tau International
Conference Location
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Conference Year
2026
Rights Holder
All rights reserved by the author(s) and/or publisher(s) listed in this item record unless relinquished in whole or part by a rights notation or a Creative Commons License present in this item record. All permission requests should be directed accordingly and not to the Sigma Repository. All submitting authors or publishers have affirmed that when using material in their work where they do not own copyright, they have obtained permission of the copyright holder prior to submission and the rights holder has been acknowledged as necessary.
Review Type
Abstract Review Only: Reviewed by Event Host
Acquisition
Proxy-submission
Date of Issue
2026-08-23
Individual Factors Associated with Self-Management in People with Coronary Heart Disease in Colombia
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Introduction: The rise in mortality from ischemic heart diseases such as acute myocardial infarction in Colombia—14,964 deaths by 2024 (1)—shows the need to identify factors that support self-management, an issue scarcely studied in Latin America, where most research focuses on cardiovascular risk (2–4) or other chronic diseases (4,5).
Objective: To examine correlations between individual factors and self-management in people with acute myocardial infarction in a quaternary hospital in Medellín, Colombia.
Method: A cross-sectional study with 177 participants with confirmed AMI who were close to hospital discharge. After ethical approval and informed consent, the adapted “Partners in Health Scale” (6) and a clinical–sociodemographic questionnaire were applied. Analyses included Wilcoxon, Spearman correlation, and Kruskal–Wallis tests.
Results: Among participants, 69.5% were men and 30.5% were women, with a mean age of 64.86 years (SD 10.85). Regarding education, 47.5% had primary school education. In terms of occupation, 29.9% were homemakers and 26.0% were self-employed. A total of 62.7% reported having a caregiver; of these, 51.3% identified their partner as the caregiver, and 85.5% of caregivers were women. Regarding AMI history, 55.4% had experienced one AMI and 33.9% had experienced two; the mean time since the last AMI was 3.84 months (SD 19.68). Educational information about the disease was provided by health professionals for 88.1% of participants. The mean self-management score was 70.71 (SD 19.87), classified as a moderate level.
Self-management scores were significantly associated with sex (p = 0.0318; p < 0.05), educational level (p = 0.0033; p < 0.05), occupation (p = 0.0033; p < 0.05), time since the last AMI (p = 0.002107; p < 0.05; rho = 0.166), and sources of disease-related education (p = 0.002115; p < 0.05; rho = 0.22). In contrast, age (p = 0.1286; rho = 0.114), marital status (p = 0.4094), and religion (p = 0.9069) were not significant.
Discussion: These findings differ from a systematic review on chronic disease self-management (5,7), which identified several demographic and socioeconomic factors as determinants; however, in this Colombian population, age and marital status were not significant.
Conclusion: Individual factors associated with self-management include gender, educational level, occupation, time since acute myocardial infarction, and sources of disease-related education.
Description
This study supports health promotion and the UN's Sustainable Development Goals by identifying individual factors linked to self-management in people with acute myocardial infarction in Colombia. Understanding these determinants improves clinical and educational strategies and strengthens efforts to reduce premature mortality from noncommunicable diseases.