en <div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"><span style="color:#f79646">Aims:</span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif">This study aimed to explore the barriers that prevent patients with inflammatory bowel disease from performing self-care by understanding their individual experiences</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif">.</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><a name="_Hlk205114130"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"><span style="color:#f79646">Participants & Methods</span></span></span></b></a><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"><span style="color:#f79646">:</span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif">This descriptive qualitative study used semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 16 </span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif">inflammatory bowel disease</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"> patients who expressed a willingness to participate. The sample included both sexes and individuals diagnosed with ulcerative colitis or Crohn&rsquo;s disease. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis guided by an inductive approach.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"><span style="color:#f79646">Findings:</span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif">There were five main themes and twenty-six sub-themes that represented the most prominent barriers faced by patients. The main themes were insufficient knowledge about the disease, physical symptoms as barriers to self-care, psychological and social barriers to effective self-care, medication adherence barriers, and dietary adherence barriers. These barriers were found to be interrelated in a manner that negatively impacts patients&rsquo; adherence to health behaviors related to self-care.</span></span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="background:white"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:normal"><span style="unicode-bidi:embed"><span style="font-family:Calibri,sans-serif"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif"><span style="color:#f79646">Conclusion:</span></span></span></b> <span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="font-family:&quot;Cambria&quot;,serif">The most prominent barriers to self-care in patients with inflammatory bowel disease are a lack of knowledge about the disease, physical symptoms, and difficulties adhering to a diet and medications.</span></span></span></span></span></span></div> Patients,Self-Care,Inflammatory Bowel Disease,Physical Barriers,Knowledge, 243 251 http://ijwph.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2323-1&slc_lang=en&sid=3 B. Obeid 1003194753284600379794 1003194753284600379794 Yes Department of Adult Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Kufa, Iraq I.Q.K. Al-hussein 1003194753284600379980 1003194753284600379980 No Department of Adult Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Kufa, Kufa, Iraq