Correlation Between Family Functioning and Health Beliefs in Patients with Stroke in Beijing, China

OBJECTIVE: To explore the relationship between family functioning and health beliefs in patients with stroke. METHODS: A total of 253 patients with stroke were selected from Beijing Luhe Hospital, Capital Medical University from May 2021 to November 2021. All patients were of Chinese nationality, and 240 valid questionnaires were obtained. The Family Assessment Device and Champion’s Health Belief Model Scale were used to collect patients’ family functioning and health beliefs information, and correlation analysis was used to analyse it. RESULTS: The total score for family functioning in patients with stroke was 130.5 (22). The highest mean score was 2.46 for behaviour control, and the lowest score was 2.00 for total function. The items were ranked from high to low in this order: behaviour control, emotional response, role, communication, emotional intervention, problem solving and total function. The total score of the patients’ health beliefs was 116 (33), The items were ranked from high to low in this order: were self-efficacy, health motivation, perceived benefit, susceptibility, severity and perceived impairment. The scores for family functioning were negatively correlated with the total scores for health beliefs (P < 0.05). DISCUSSION: Stroke can reduce the self-care ability of the patients and aggravate the burden of family care. This can lead to abnormal function roles for patients and their families, emotional reactions in patients with stroke and weaker levels of family functioning. CONCLUSION: The health beliefs scores of patients with stroke were at the middle level, and family functioning was at the general level. There was a negative correlation between the family functioning score and the total score for health beliefs in patients with stroke.