BACKGROUND Individual beliefs and cognitions may affect adjustment to chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and illness perceptions, in particular, have been reported to correlate with both disability and psychological adjustment to CFS in self-diagnosed cases. OBJECTIVES The aim of the present study was to examine these relationships in a clinic sample of CFS patients assessed by both a physician a...

BACKGROUND Somatoform disorders are costly for society in terms of increased healthcare expenditure. Patients' illness perceptions have been found to play a role in somatoform disorders. However, it is unclear whether illness perceptions predict higher health costs in these patients. METHOD A total of 1785 primary care patients presenting a new health complaint completed a questionnaire on th...

BACKGROUND Addiction, or substance dependence, is nowadays considered a chronic relapsing condition. However, perceptions of addiction vary widely, also among healthcare professionals. Perceptions of addiction are thought to contribute to attitude and stigma towards patients with addiction. However, studies into perceptions of addiction among healthcare professionals are limited and instruments...

OBJECTIVE To determine the extent to which parental perceptions of child vulnerability predict school and social adjustment in children with chronic illness. METHODS Sixty-nine child-parent dyads were recruited from pediatric rheumatology and pulmonary clinics. Parents completed a self-report measure of parental perceptions of child vulnerability. Children completed measures of social adjustm...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS This study aimed to characterize the relationships between illness perceptions, body image and self-consciousness, sexual health (sexual problems and sexual satisfaction), anxiety and depression, and marital and family functioning in patients with IBD. METHODS Seventy-four IBD patients (44 CD, 13 males, 61 females, mean age 38 years) completed an online questionnaire. Illn...

Background Given the increasing importance of patient-reported outcomes (PRO) in quality medical care, we examined the value and feasibility of an innovative method for assessing patients' illness perceptions, represented in drawings made by patients with COPD of their lungs. Aim The aim of our study was: to study patients' representation of COPD as reflected in their drawings of their lungs;...

The present study explored illness perceptions of end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients on both haemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD) treatment, and their associations with quality of life. Leventhal's self-regulation model (SRM) was used as a theoretical framework. Illness perceptions and quality of life were assessed with the IPQ-R and the SF-36 in 91 HD and 42 PD patients partici...

Health interventions aimed at secondary prevention of myocardial infarction (MI) are important. Patients' illness perceptions influence adherence behaviors and actions. Providing adequate infomation about the disease and lifestyle interventions is an important task for health care professionals. Therefore, a question of interest is how health care professionals perceive myocardial infarction th...