Perceived stigma, illness intrusiveness and quality of life in men and women with irritable bowel syndrome

Symptoms, impairment and illness intrusiveness–their relationship with depression in women with CFS/ME

“…This is usually not the case with other chronic illnesses, such as IBS for example, where the life domain of work is hardly affected (Dancey et al, 2002). Even patients with MS tend not to be so affected: in a study by Johnson et al (1996) 89% of patients with MS were working full time, whereas only 44% of the CFS/ME patients were able to work.…”

“…There are many different areas of an individual's life which may be affected by illness -such as career, recreation and relationships. For example, people who suffer from IBS find that their illness intrudes principally in the domains of diet and health (Dancey et al, 2002). In the case of RA (Devins, Edworthy, Guthrie, & Martin, 1992) the domains in which the illness is most intrusive (apart from diet and health) are work and finances, domains which are not highly intrusive in those with IBS.…”

“…Looper and Kirmayer (2004) state that patients with functional syndromes such as CFS/ME often feel that their experience of being physically ill is not validated, and state that the higher levels of stigma in this group is likely to be the ambiguity regarding the cause of the condition. Perceived stigma is, unsurprisingly, related to measures such as depression and quality of life (Dancey, Hutton-Young, Moye, & Devins, 2002;Looper & Kirmayer, 2004). Although physical symptoms themselves may contribute directly to reduced well-being, research from a wide variety of both acute and chronic illnesses show that much of the degradation in quality of life comes from the intrusiveness of an illness (Devins, 1994).…”

“…In the case of RA (Devins, Edworthy, Guthrie, & Martin, 1992) the domains in which the illness is most intrusive (apart from diet and health) are work and finances, domains which are not highly intrusive in those with IBS. Studies across many different illnesses such as ESRD, RA, Cancer, Lupus (Devins et al, 2001), Diabetes (Talbot, Nouwen, Gingras, Belanger, & Audet, 1999) and MS (Shawaryn, Schiaffino, Larocca, & Johnston, 2002) have shown that features of the chronic illness affect depression through illness intrusiveness and that these are an underlying determinant of the psychosocial impact of an illness (Dancey et al, 2002;Devins et al, 2001). Variables which moderate the effect of illness intrusiveness on depression and/or quality of life have been identified in many illnesses, e.g., age and gender (Devins et al, 1996), perceived stigma (Dancey et al, 2002;Devins, 1994) and stressful life events (Devins et al, 2006).…”

Prognostic Relevance of Subjective Theories of Illness on the Clinical and Psychological Parameters in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Patients – A Longitudinal Study

“…However, there is no uniform, scientifically-based model of the etiology of IBS that patients could use for orientation. Patients with IBS have been repeatedly described as lacking health-related quality of life compared to healthy controls (Dancey et al, 2002). The majority of patients with IBS symptoms do not consult a healthcare professional.…”