Background: Having self-care abilities based on the needs of the elderly promotes health in these individuals and minimizes the complications associated with aging. This study aimed to determine relationship between self-care needs and self-care ability in retired elderly based on Orem’s model.
Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 120 older people who had been referred to the Civil Servants Pension Organizations in east of the Guilan Province (north of Iran) in 2017. Subjects were selected through simple random sampling method. Data were gathered using a questionnaire of elderly’s self-care needs and self-care abilities based on the Orem's model. Data were analyzed in SPSS (version 16) using the t-test, analysis of variance, Tukey's test, and Pearson correlation coefficient.
Results: The participants obtained an average self-care score of 19.80±6.44 and an average self-care ability score of 132.41±15.92. Most subjects were semi-dependent (73.33%) and had high self-care abilities (81.66%). Self-care needs and self-care abilities were significantly associated with variables of age, marital status, education level, occupation status, and monthly income. In addition, there was a significant relationship between self-care needs and self-care abilities of the elderly (P=0.0001).
Conclusion: Our results indicated a significant inverse relationship between self-care needs and self-care abilities of the elderly.  It is recommended to design self-care program based on the needs of the elderly while considering their individual-social conditions to improve self-care abilities and minimize injuries.