A literature review revealed few studies of
sociodemographic predictors of self-care management
or maintenance. Nagy and Wolfe17 demonstrated
an inverse relationship between symptom
severity and treatment compliance, suggesting that
persons with relatively fewer symptoms will comply
with their treatment regimen better than those
who are more compromised. Another interpretation
may be that over the years spent living with
chronic illness, persons develop individual selfcare
programs that lead to better symptom management,
thereby decreasing symptom severity
through good compliance