Journal of North Khorasan

Abstract Background and objectives: Self-care is a collection of learned, conscious and purposeful actions and is performed in order to maintain and promote health by the person. This paper concerns the role of the Internet use in persuasion and performance of individuals in dealing with self-care. Material & Methods: This is a cross-sectional study to compare techniques of finding out traditional and online health information and self-care in 60 female employees of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. A two-part questionnaire to collect demographic information and self-care factors was used. Validity and reliability of the study were verified by the experts’ confirmation and applying Cranach’s alpha coefficient (0.771). The data of the study was also analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The results show that 85% of participants had studied health and self-care. Suffering from diseases like backache (45%),Diabetes (23.3%),visual disorders(15 %) , bone problems(11.7%) , Mental disorders(6.7%),thyroid and hearing disorders (1.7%) were reported. 20% of participants had no access to the Internet. The possibility of using the Internet was in a significant relationship (p <0.05), with 6 components of the attitude and 18 questions of behavior regarding self-care. This variable was significantly associated with a component of the knowledge too. (P <0.01) Conclusion: Authorities should show concern for introducing and designing reputable web sites which present self-care services according to the culture and opportunity of accessing to the internet in the country. However, supporting professionals, people with the same disease and the role of their families and friends as healthcare advocates in Internet access and its optimal usage should be considered.