{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T15:04:55Z","timestamp":1790003095887,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":36,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789948800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":20,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/100004319","name":"Pfizer","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/100004319","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["BMJ Open"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,2]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Understanding how people manage everyday health challenges is vital for developing self-care policies that are inclusive, equitable and effective. Little is known about how demographic characteristics shape self-care confidence, symptom management strategies and health-seeking behaviours across the UK adult population. While the companion paper from the same survey examined healthcare professionals\u2019 attitudes toward self-care and the professional-public interface, the demographic predictors and personal barriers shaping self-care engagement among the general UK public remain poorly understood.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>To examine the demographic predictors of self-care engagement among UK adults, focusing on self-care confidence, health information-seeking behaviour, symptom management strategies and perceived barriers to self-care.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Design<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Cross-sectional online survey conducted from June to September 2024.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Community-dwelling adults across the UK, recruited via online platforms and professional networks.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Participants<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>3,255 UK adults, including a subset of health and care professionals (HCPs).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Interventions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>None (observational study).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Primary and secondary outcome measures<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Self-reported self-care confidence, health information-seeking behaviours, symptom management strategies and barriers to self-care.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Regression analyses highlighted marked demographic disparities in self-care engagement. Older adults (65+) were significantly more confident in their self-care knowledge (aOR=3.22, 95% CI 2.06 to 5.03, p&lt;0.001) and healthy lifestyle behaviours (aOR=2.96) and were also more likely to seek health information. Males reported lower self-care confidence than females (aOR=0.79, 95% CI 0.68 to 0.91, p=0.002). Black British participants were more confident in self-care knowledge (aOR=1.99, 95% CI 1.39 to 2.84, p&lt;0.001), but along with Asian British individuals, were significantly less likely to seek health information (aORs=0.56\u2009and 0.70, respectively). People living with disabilities (aOR=0.69) and long-term conditions (aOR=0.76) reported lower confidence across self-care domains. HCPs consistently reported higher self-care confidence (aOR=1.51, p=0.006) and health behaviour engagement (aOR=1.66). Financial constraints (53%), lack of time (47%) and low self-efficacy (22%) emerged as key barriers to self-care, alongside low use of pharmacists (1.3%) and digital resources (9.7%).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This study highlights demographic disparities in self-care confidence, information-seeking behaviours and barriers to engagement, urging the need for tailored self-care interventions. Future research should focus on targeted interventions to improve health literacy, enhance pharmacist-led self-care support and promote equitable access to digital health resources, particularly for underserved and demographically diverse population groups.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2025-110380","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]],"date-time":"2026-09-21T14:27:52Z","timestamp":1790000872000},"page":"e110380","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["What are the demographic predictors and barriers to self-care engagement in the UK? a cross-sectional survey study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8772-4938","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Austen","family":"El-Osta","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7404-8486","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sami","family":"Altalib","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mahmoud","family":"Al Ammouri","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5418-7817","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter","family":"Smith","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Imperial College London, London, UK"},{"name":"The Self-Care Forum UK, Surrey, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,21]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026092107251115000_16.9.e110380.1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1111\/j.1744-1609.2010.00196.x"},{"key":"2026092107251115000_16.9.e110380.2","first-page":"38","article-title":"The Self-Care Matrix: a unifying framework for self-care","volume":"10","author":"El-Osta","year":"2019","journal-title":"Self-Care"},{"key":"2026092107251115000_16.9.e110380.3","unstructured":"World Health Organization . 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