Illness behaviour: normal to abnormal- a selective systematic review of research from india

Objective: Illness behaviour is an important concept studied across various medical conditions. It determines the ways person respond and react to their health status and has significant impact on the health systems and individual. However, there are no systematic reviews on this important topic. To do a selective systematic review of researches done in India on illness behaviours across different health conditions. Methods: Journal articles were identified through search on the PubMed, Medline, PsychInfo electronic databases from 1970 to 2015 with the search terms (Illness behaviour, India, Abnormal illness behaviour). The full articles were reviewed to identify measures used and important findings were extracted and summarised. Results: There were 15 studies which were based on patients and two review articles (non-systematic). The studies on illness behaviour focused on somatoform disorders, tuberculosis and stroke. Scales used for assessment included Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ), Illness Behaviour Assessment Schedule (IBAS) and Screening for Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (SIBQ). No studies were found on intervention for abnormal illness behaviour. Conclusion: Illness behaviours are an important aspect of somatoform disorders. It is difficult to draw conclusions due to relatively small number of studies. More studies including randomised control designs are needed to understand patterns of illness behaviour across disorders.