• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.21 no.8
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• pp.455-467
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• 2020

This study was a systematic review examining the effect of empowerment intervention studies among patients with chronic physical health conditions in Korea. The PICOT-SD (Participants, Intervention, Comparison, Outcomes, Timing of outcome measurement, Setting, Study design) strategy was applied. A total of 19 studies published between January 2000 and April 2020 were selected. Study participants were rheumatoid arthritis patients, hemodialysis patients, stroke patients, diabetes mellitus patients, chronic pulmonary disease patients, hypertensive patients, cancer patients, chronic kidney disease patients, and kidney transplantation patients, etc. A total of 17 studies were found to have presented a conceptual framework. Empowerment skills were participation, dialogue, experience, interaction, support, and problem solving, etc. The most frequently used dependent variables were self-care (n=13), empowerment (n=10), self-efficacy (n=7), and depression (n=5). Self-care, empowerment, and self-efficacy showed significant improvement among patients in at least 60% of the included studies. Based upon this review, there is evidence that empowerment intervention studies are an effective method to improve the health of patients with chronic physical health conditions. This study further suggests the development of an empowerment intervention program to verify the effects of the various variables identified in this study.