Abstract
OBJECTIVE: to analyze and correlate occupational roles, symptoms and self-care capacity in oncologic patients seen at the chemotherapy service of a university hospital. METHOD: cross-sectional study, in which the instruments were applied sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, M.D Anderson's Symptom Inventory - core, Appraisal of Self Care Agency Scale-Revised and Occupational Paper Identification List to oncologic patients seen in the chemotherapy service of a university hospital. Data analysis included absolute and relative frequency tables and multiple linear regression, adopting a significance level of α=0.05. RESULTS: the sample showed capacity for self-care operationalized with an average of ̄X=57.8. In the correlation between the degree of importance of the occupational papers and the scores of the evaluation instrument for self-care was found statistical significance in the papers of volunteer (r=0.26; p=0.02) and friend (r=0.33; p= <0.001). The linear regression showed that the greater the interference of symptoms in life activities (β=0.20; p=0.05) and greater the importance of the role of friend (p=0.001; p=0.43), the higher the rates of self-care. CONCLUSION: the operationalization of self-care can be directly related to the degree of importance attributed to the performance of social roles.