The relationship between basic conditioning factors and the self-care practice of meditation in HIV-seropositive persons

This study was a secondary analysis of data collected by Freeman, E., Ruppenthal, B., and Flinders, R. entitled "Meditation on a Passage and Repetition of a Mantram to Enhance Self-Care of Persons with HIV Infection" (1992). Selected data were re-analyzed in light of the Self-Care Deficit Theory (Orem, 1995). Self-care consisted of daily repetition of an inspirational passage and mantram, which served as the interventions for the primary study. The primary researchers noted that ASCAS scores rose significantly after the intervention. Thus, secondary analysis focused on the relationships of the basic conditioning factors (BCFs) to the total scores on the Adult Self-Care Agency Scale (ASCAS) before and after the self-care intervention. Secondary analysis revealed that diet alone, from among the BCFs, differentiated the sample of HIV-infected or family members of infected persons according to ASCAS scores at study entry and exit.