Journal article
Illness perceptions in adult congenital heart disease: A multi-center international study.
- Rassart J University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; Research Foundation Flanders, Belgium. Electronic address: jessica.rassart@kuleuven.be.
- Apers S University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Kovacs AH University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada.
- Moons P University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden.
- Thomet C University Hospital Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
- Budts W University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium; University Hospitals Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- Enomoto J Chiba Cardiovascular Center, Chiba, Japan.
- Sluman MA Amsterdam Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
- Wang JK National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Jackson JL Nationwide Children's Hospital, Columbus, USA.
- Khairy P Montreal Heart Institute, Montreal, Canada.
- Cook SC Adult Congenital Heart Disease Center, Helen DeVos Children's Hospital Grand Rapids, MI, USA.
- Subramanyan R Frontier Lifeline Hospital, Dr. K. M. Cherian Heart Foundation, Chennai, India.
- Alday L Hospital de Niños, Córdoba, Argentina.
- Eriksen K Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway.
- Dellborg M University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; Sahlgrenska University Hospital, Gothenburg, Sweden.
- Berghammer M University of Gothenburg, Gothenburg, Sweden; University West, Trollhättan, Sweden.
- Johansson B University Hospital of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden.
- Rempel GR University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
- Menahem S Monash Medical Center, Melbourne, Australia.
- Caruana M Mater Dei Hospital, Msida, Malta.
- Veldtman G Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, USA.
- Soufi A Hospital Louis Pradel, Lyon, France.
- Fernandes SM Stanford University, Palo Alto, USA.
- White KS Washington University and Barnes Jewish Heart & Vascular Center, University of Missouri, Saint Louis, USA.
- Callus E IRCCS Policlinco San Donato Hospital, Milan, Italy.
- Kutty S Children's Hospital & Medical Center, Omaha, USA.
- Luyckx K University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
- 2017-07-04
Published in:
- International journal of cardiology. - 2017
Heart defects, congenital
Illness perceptions
International cooperation, multilevel analysis
Psychosocial care
Adult
Attitude to Health
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Heart Defects, Congenital
Humans
Internationality
Male
Perception
Self Report
Surveys and Questionnaires
English
BACKGROUND
Illness perceptions are cognitive frameworks that patients construct to make sense of their illness. Although the importance of these perceptions has been demonstrated in other chronic illness populations, few studies have focused on the illness perceptions of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). This study examined (1) inter-country variation in illness perceptions, (2) associations between patient characteristics and illness perceptions, and (3) associations between illness perceptions and patient-reported outcomes.
METHODS
Our sample, taken from APPROACH-IS, consisted of 3258 adults with CHD from 15 different countries. Patients completed questionnaires on illness perceptions and patient-reported outcomes (i.e., quality of life, perceived health status, and symptoms of depression and anxiety). Patient characteristics included sex, age, marital status, educational level, employment status, CHD complexity, functional class, and ethnicity. Linear mixed models were applied.
RESULTS
The inter-country variation in illness perceptions was generally small, yet patients from different countries differed in the extent to which they perceived their illness as chronic and worried about their illness. Patient characteristics that were linked to illness perceptions were sex, age, employment status, CHD complexity, functional class, and ethnicity. Higher scores on consequences, identity, and emotional representation, as well as lower scores on illness coherence and personal and treatment control, were associated with poorer patient-reported outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
This study emphasizes that, in order to gain a deeper understanding of patients' functioning, health-care providers should focus not only on objective indicators of illness severity such as the complexity of the heart defect, but also on subjective illness experiences.
Illness perceptions are cognitive frameworks that patients construct to make sense of their illness. Although the importance of these perceptions has been demonstrated in other chronic illness populations, few studies have focused on the illness perceptions of adults with congenital heart disease (CHD). This study examined (1) inter-country variation in illness perceptions, (2) associations between patient characteristics and illness perceptions, and (3) associations between illness perceptions and patient-reported outcomes.
METHODS
Our sample, taken from APPROACH-IS, consisted of 3258 adults with CHD from 15 different countries. Patients completed questionnaires on illness perceptions and patient-reported outcomes (i.e., quality of life, perceived health status, and symptoms of depression and anxiety). Patient characteristics included sex, age, marital status, educational level, employment status, CHD complexity, functional class, and ethnicity. Linear mixed models were applied.
RESULTS
The inter-country variation in illness perceptions was generally small, yet patients from different countries differed in the extent to which they perceived their illness as chronic and worried about their illness. Patient characteristics that were linked to illness perceptions were sex, age, employment status, CHD complexity, functional class, and ethnicity. Higher scores on consequences, identity, and emotional representation, as well as lower scores on illness coherence and personal and treatment control, were associated with poorer patient-reported outcomes.
CONCLUSIONS
This study emphasizes that, in order to gain a deeper understanding of patients' functioning, health-care providers should focus not only on objective indicators of illness severity such as the complexity of the heart defect, but also on subjective illness experiences.
- Language
-
- English
- Open access status
- closed
- Identifiers
-
- DOI 10.1016/j.ijcard.2017.06.072
- PMID 28669511
- Persistent URL
- https://folia.unifr.ch/global/documents/166879
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