Purpose: This cross-sectional study was conducted to identify the level of self-care behaviors of school-age children with heart disease. Orem’s self-care theory was used as the conceptual framework.

Method: A purposive sampling method was used to select 82 (age 6-12 years old) school-age children with heart disease admitted at least once (within a year) and attending the outpatient department of three hospitals in Shenyang City, Liaoning Province, China. The Medical Record Form, Demographic Form, and Self-care Behaviors of School-age Children with Heart Diseases Questionnaire (SBSCHDQ) were used to collect data.

Results: Findings were: (1) The majority of the school-age children with heart disease had moderate levels of self-care behaviors. (2) The school-age children with heart disease whose heart functions are in Class I had a high level of self-care behaviors, and the school-age children whose heart functions are in Classes II and III had a moderate level of self-care behaviors. Moreover, the participants whose heart functions are in Class III had the lowest score of self-care behaviors.

Conclusions: The findings of this study provide useful information for nurses to understand self-care behaviors of school-age children with heart disease. The findings also assist nurses to perform nursing interventions and provide proper discharge plans to this population.