Illness perception in patients with coronary artery disease: A systematic review

Abstract

The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review that investigates the differences in illness perception with age and gender in patients diagnosed with coronary artery disease. Previous studies show some discrepancies regarding the influence of age and gender on the specific dimensions of coronary artery disease patients' illness perception. A systematic review using a narrative synthesis process included preliminary synthesis, exploration of relationships and assessment of the robustness of the synthesis and findings was conducted. Search terms were used to identify research studies published between 1996 and December 2014 across four key databases: CINAHL, Medline, PsycINFO and Web of Science. A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria of the review. The review found that men had a stronger perception that their own behaviour had caused their illness than women. In addition, older patients had lower perceptions of the consequences and chronicity of their illness. This analysis concludes that some dimensions of illness perception vary according to age and gender of patients with coronary artery disease. These differences should be taken into consideration, particularly when providing health education and cardiac rehabilitation.

Relationship Between Illness Representations, Psychosocial Adjustment, and Treatment Outcomes in Mental Disorders: A Mini Review

“…In physical illnesses, many studies have highlighted the central role of illness representations on psychosocial adjustment (for reviews and/or meta-analysis, see Hagger and Orbell, 2003;Foxwell et al, 2013;Al-Smadi et al, 2016;Hagger et al, 2017) and adherence (for a meta-analysis, see Brandes and Mullan, 2014). According to the self-regulation model (SRM; Leventhal et al, 1984), illness representations can be divided into six dimensions: timeline (considering whether the illness is acute, chronic, or cyclical); consequences (assessing its impact on life, including physical, emotional, social, and economic outcomes); cure/control, which can be divided into personal control (beliefs about personal abilities to control the illness), and treatment control (beliefs about the treatment's effectiveness in curing or managing the illness); identity (overall comprehensibility of the illness); emotional representations (emotional impact or emotional response to the illness); and cause (factors believed to be responsible for the illness or condition).…”

Predicting Resilience via Social Support and Illness Perceptions Among Patients Undergoing Hemodialysis

“…These beliefs are known as illness perceptions (8). This term refers to organized cognitive representations or beliefs that patients have about various characteristics of their disease (9). Regarding a self-regulation model, a number of studies examined illness perceptions (10).…”

Literature Review: The Influence Of Illness Perceptions On Patients With Diabetic Foot Ulcer

“…Numerous studies have been noted the significance of illness perceptions in the outcome of chronic illness [46,47,48]. In these studies, it was founded that illness perceptions have an important role in influencing individuals' behavior to take an action and may predict the health outcome.…”

“…Furthermore, another study about illness perceptions on several chronic diseases highlighting the role of illness perceptions in chance of survival [46], treatment adherence [50], clinical and psychosocial outcomes [48], and influence the quality of life [41]. These related studies are strong evidence that illness perceptions have a wide role in influencing human behavior and it has a big contribution on clinical outcomes.…”