Illness Perception and Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Patients with Type 2 Diabetes: Cross-sectional Questionnaire Study

Abstract

AIM. To investigate illness perception in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus and its association with the degree of control over relevant cardiovascular risk factors. METHODS. A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study was performed from June 2007 to March 2008. A stratified random sample of 46 Croatian general practitioners was asked to select, using systematic sampling, the first 6 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus aged > or =18 years who visited them for consultation during the study period. Data on 250 patients included patient illness perception assessment (Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, IPQ), cardiovascular risk factors, and socio-demographic data. RESULTS. The patients' mean age was 63.0+/-10.9 years and mean duration of diabetes was 9.3+/-7.8 years. The patients' illness perception assessment on an 11-point (0 to 10) scale showed the highest median scores (interquartile range): 10 (8 to 10) for "timeline" and 8 (7 to 9) for "treatment control," followed by 7 (5 to 8) for "personal control," 7 (5 to 9) for "understanding," 5 (3 to 7) for "consequences," 6 (4 to 7) for "concern," and 5 (2 to 7) for "emotional response." The lowest score was 3 (1 to 5) for "identity." Multivariate logistic regression showed that the Brief IPQ item "concern" (P<0.001) was a significant predictor of body mass index; "personal control" (P<0.001) and "concern" (P=0.048) were significant predictors of fasting blood glucose; "treatment control" (P=0.009) was a significant predictor of total cholesterol; and "understanding" (P=0.010) was a significant predictor of blood pressure. CONCLUSION. As patients' beliefs seem to be associated with the degree of control over cardiovascular risk factors, they should be included in routine clinical assessments.

Coronary heart disease: health knowledge and behaviour

“…Kolodinsky and colleagues (2007), who studied knowledge of dietary guidelines and food choice in college students in the USA, reported that increased knowledge of dietary guidelines was positively associated with the consumption of a healthier diet [21]. In addition Petricek and colleagues (2009) who studied illness perception and its effect on the degree of control of cardiovascular risk factors in type 2 diabetics in Croatia, reported that patients who reported deviating from their dietary plan had poorer knowledge about their disease [19]. The results of the present study showed that respondents who reported paying more attention to their diet achieved higher CHD knowledge scores.…”

“…[17] have aimed to increase the general public's awareness of CHD in the UK, however, it would appear that more tailored campaigns may be required [9,11,18] since different individuals have marked differences in their baseline knowledge [7]. Although knowledge alone is insufficient, it is a known prerequisite for making decisions about health [19,20], as the majority of the decisions on health behaviours (i.e. exercising more, quitting smoking, eating healthily, etc.)…”

“…exercising more, quitting smoking, eating healthily, etc.) are influenced by the individual's knowledge and perceptions of his/her risk of illness [19]. Knowledge score Frequency Fig.…”

Association of glycaemia with perceived threat of illness in patients with type 2 diabetes

“…People exhibit a wide variety of ways to cope with their health threats, and personal beliefs seem to be associated with the degree of control they have over their illness [4][5][6]. The degree to which patients follow advice is determined by their health beliefs (Illness Representations or Personal Models), and treatment outcomes depend upon many variables closely related to habits in the case of chronic diseases, where the results depend to a great extent upon human behaviour [6][7][8].…”

Illness Perception and Quality of Life in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Patients in Lampung, Indonesia

“…The same result was reported by Broadbent et al (2006) about the BIPQ score. Our results of perception measurements are better results compared with Petriček et al (2009), who showed that the perception measurement obtained worse results in all domain measurements.…”