Risk factors for low self-care self-efficacy in cancer survivors: Application of latent profile analysis

Aim: To identify subgroups of cancer patients with distinct self-care self-efficacy profiles and to explore factors that can be used to predict those at risk of low self-efficacy.

Design: A secondary analysis of data pooled from two cross-sectional surveys was performed.

Methods: In total, 1,367 Chinese cancer survivors were included in the analysis. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was performed to categorize participants into latent subgroups with distinct self-efficacy profiles. Multinomial logistic regression was conducted to identify predictors of self-care self-efficacy subgroup classification.

Results: We identified three distinct subgroups: low, medium and high self-care self-efficacy. Patients with the "low" profile, which was characterized by a low education level, single marital status, complications, late cancer stage and a lower level of social support, had the poorest self-care behaviour.