Introduction:

Self-care and self-management are part of daily life and involve intentional activities to prevent or limit diseases and slow their progression (Barley 2016; Jones et al, 2011). The self-management / self-care capacity of people with RA can be influenced by multiple factors, from beliefs about medication, which can influence adherence, to external factors, such as lack of access to certain health care.

Objectives:

To identify the factors that influence self-care in people with RA.

Methods:

Integrative literature review. in the main databases. The critical evaluation, extraction and synthesis of data were performed by two independent reviewers.

Results:

12 studies were included, of which emerged as factors influencing self-care, factors related to: social support, emotional, socioeconomic and cultural support, illness and comorbidities, health services and professionals, treatment, knowledge, intrinsic to the person and physical barriers.

Conclusions:

the knowledge of the categories identified in the present study is useful in the development of programs that try to reduce barriers and increase reinforcement factors, with a view to improving and developing self-care behaviours.

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