Dry eye disease (DED) is a chronic ocular surface disorder requiring long-term self-management; however, maintaining self-management behaviors remains challenging for many patients. This study aimed to explore the lived experiences and barriers associated with the maintenance of self-management behaviors among patients with DED and to provide a basis for developing targeted nursing interventions. A descriptive qualitative study was conducted using purposive sampling. From March to April 2026, 16 patients with DED were recruited from the ophthalmology outpatient clinic of a tertiary hospital in Shaanxi Province, China. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured in-depth interviews guided by the Temporal Self-Regulation Theory (TST). The data were managed and coded using NVivo 12.0 software and analyzed through directed content analysis. Three themes and six subthemes were identified: a short-term benefit orientation weakening motivation to maintain self-management behaviors; real-life contextual factors reducing the feasibility of implementing self-management behaviors; and insufficient support resources hindering the long-term maintenance of self-management behaviors. The maintenance of self-management behaviors among patients with DED is influenced by multiple interacting factors, including temporal perspective, perceived behavioral utility, and self-regulatory capacity. Nursing interventions should extend beyond traditional health education and focus on long-term behavior maintenance by enhancing patients’ perception of future health benefits, improving the compatibility between self-care behaviors and daily contexts, and establishing digital and home-based support systems. These findings provide insights for developing individualized interventions to promote sustained self-management among patients with DED.

Wang Mengmeng, Yang Haixia, Chen Jiarui, Liu Sha. A Qualitative Study on Barriers to Maintaining Self-management Behaviors among Patients with Dry Eye Disease Based on the Temporal Self-Regulation Theory. Academic Journal of Humanities & Social Sciences (2026), Vol. 9, Issue 8: 1-7. https://doi.org/10.25236/AJHSS.2026.090801.

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