Abstract: Objective: To investigate the current status and influencing factors of self-care behaviors of lumbar disc among young and middle-aged patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation. Methods: Totally 526 young and middle-aged patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation from tertiary hospitals in Fuzhou and Putian were recruited and surveyed by a self-designed demographic questionnaire and the Oswestry Disability Index(ODI). Univariate analysis as well as multiple liner regression analysis were used, and we also analyzed the correlation among the self-care behaviors of lumbar disc and the level of disability. Results: The average score of self-care behaviors of lumbar disc among young and middle-aged patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation was 86.49±14.04 with the mean percentile 52.42±8.51, which was at low level. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the, occupation, course of disease, degree of self-concern about disease and level of disease cognition were major influencing factors (P<0.05). Pearson correlation analysis show that the level of self-care behaviors of lumbar disc has negative correlation with the level of disability (r=-0.329, P<0.001). Conclusion: The level of self-care behaviors of lumbar disc among young and middle-aged patients with Lumbar Disc Herniation is low and needs to be improved. Medical staff should provide patients with education on self-care of lumbar disc, guide them to master self-care skills, improve the level of dysfunction in patients, and help them to realize self-rehabilitation.

Key words: young and middle-aged patients; Lumbar Disc Herniation; self-care behaviors of lumbar disc; dysfunction; cross-sectional studies