Effect of Individualized Guidance on Knowledge and Self-Care Practices of Psoriasis Patients

Background: Psoriasis is a chronic, immune-multisystem, inflammatory disease that affects the skin and joints and there is a necessity for monitoring and educating patients about benefits as well as risks that may be correlated. Aim: Evaluate the effect of individualized guidance on knowledge and self–care practices of psoriasis patients. Subjects and methods:Design: A quasiexperimental design was utilized. Setting: The study was conducted at the Dermatology outpatient clinic at El-Mansoura University Hospitals. Sample: Purposive sample of 100 adult patients diagnosed with psoriasis from both sexes and they equally divided into study & control groups, (50) patients for each one. Tools: Two tools were used for data collection; the first tool was a structured interviewing questionnaire, and the second tool was the psoriasis disability index. Results: Mean age of the studied psoriasis patients in the study and control group were 44±8.6 and 42± 7.9 respectively. There was a highly statistically significant difference between the study and the control group in all items of psoriasis knowledge (p-value > 0.001). As well there were highly statistically significant differences between both groups post individualized guidance implementation regarding reported skincare and psoriasis affected areas in all items with (p-value > 0.001). There was a significant difference between the study and control group in the total level of disability post individualized guidance (P > 0.001). Conclusion: Implementation of individualized guidance had a positive effect on patients’ knowledge and overall reported self-care practices including skincare and self-esteem with a decrease of the level of psoriasis disability, additionally a positive correlation between total scores of knowledge and total scores of reported practices were found. Recommendations: Individualized guidance should be recommended as a nursing intervention protocol during the care of every patient with psoriasis.