Illness perception and self-care in hypertension treatment: a scoping review of current literature

Background: Self-care and self-perception of the disease are of fundamental importance in the management of systemic arterial hypertension. Therefore, the objective of this study is to identify identified how "illness perception and self-care" concepts are reported in scientific evidence regarding Systemic arterial hypertension treatment.

Methods: A scoping review was systematically conducted following the methodological framework of the Joanna Briggs Institute's Manual for Evidence Synthesis (2020). A comprehensive search of a total of eight electronic databases and grey literature sources was performed. All studies addressing illness perception and/or self-perception, self-care activities and/or behaviors based on Medical subject headings (MeSH) were included. Full texts were assessed to map: (1) study characteristics: authors, publication year, country, aim, methods, sample size and intervention setting (assessment or intervention activities); (2) illness perception concepts (i.e.) and self-care behaviors (e.g. physical activity, diet, smoking cessation); (3) and authors' professional contribution to the publication.

Results: Eight hundred ninety-two studies were identified, resulting in a sample of 39 after applying the inclusion criteria. Of these, there was a predominance of publications in the last 5 years, with the majority being developed in the United States and described as observational studies without any intervention and carrying out only one assessment. All participants were hypertensive, of both sexes, recruited mainly from the community. Antihypertensive medication and the individual's perception of the disease are the concepts most evaluated in the analyzed context. In no process involving the concepts of disease perception and self-care, it was possible to observe a predominance of nurse and doctor participation.

Conclusions: Self-care and self-perception are presented, in the scientific literature, as essential factors in the control of chronic diseases, mainly hypertension. These topics appear mainly in assessment instruments. Such concepts show domains of great importance for rehabilitation. Future research could investigate the psychometric properties of the different tools within the same sphere.