Illness perception determines the healthy lifestyle of patients with Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH). Despite the availability of advanced treatment and preventive measures, there is still sparse data on illness perception of FH patients. Hence, this study aimed to describe the illness perception of FH patients and investigate its association with sociodemographic and illness-related factors. 100 FH patients were assessed using Pro forma questionnaires and revised illness perception questionnaire (IPQ-R). Illness perception of FH patients varies according to the level of education and the presence of cardiovascular disease (CVD). These findings may help clinicians to improve the interventions suitable for FH patients. Keywords: Familial hypercholesterolaemia; illness perception; sociodemography; cardiovascular diseaseeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i10.1620

Cancer can be defined as an uncontrolled and unregulated growth of cell in human body and it can be diagnosed in all level of age, races and also both genders. High level of awareness and adequate knowledge of warning signs of cancer might have great impact in surviving the disease. A cross-sectional study was done to determine the level of knowledge in identifying warning signs of cancer among students in Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Kota Bharu Campus and to examine the factors that contribute significantly to the level of knowledge. There are 9 independent variables involved in this study; gender, CGPA, father’s education level, mother’s education level, family’s monthly income, health insurance status, family history of having cancer, BM, and age. The dependent variable in this study is level of knowledge in identifying warning signs of cancer where it is categorized into 0 and 1; 0 denoting low knowledge and 1 denoting high knowledge. The finding shows that most of the respondents have low level of knowledge (84.9%). Multiple logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the determinants of level of knowledge in identifying warning signs of cancer. Overall, there were two significant variables (family monthly income and family history of having cancer) found in logistic regression analysis. There are several recommendations highlighted in this study such as the strategies to communicate the warning signs of cancer to the public.

Understanding illness perception is crucial to ensure healthy lifestyles. However, it has been poorly explained to inform effective lifestyle modification of patients with Familial Hypercholesterolaemia (FH) Therefore, we described the illness perception of different clinical categories of FH patients (using the Dutch Lipid Clinic Criteria (DLCC) and investigate its association with sociodemographic and illness-related factors. Illness perception of FH patients varies according to the level of education and the presence of CVD. Patients with ‘definite’ FH have the highest emotional disturbances. These findings may help clinicians to improve the interventions suitable for FH patients. Keywords: Familial hypercholesterolaemia; illness perception; DLCC; cardiovascular disease eISSN 2514-7528 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/jabs.v4i13.332