Illnes Perception and Emotional Status in Cardiac Patients

Ovim smo istraživanjem htjeli ispitati odnos broja simptoma i atribucije uzroka bolesti s anksioznosti i depresivnosti u kardioloških bolesnika. U ispitivanju je sudjelovalo 165 pacijenata s koronarnim srčanim oboljenjima (113 muškaraca i 52 žene) tijekom hospitalizacije u Kliničkom bolničkom centru Rijeka te Thalassotherapiji u Opatiji. Primijenjen je Upitnik percepcije bolesti (IPQ-R) i Upitnik bolničke anksioznosti i depresivnosti (HADS). Rezultati pokazuju statistički značajnu povezanost broja simptoma bolesti i vjerovanja u uzroke bolesti s anksioznosti i depresivnosti. Kod ženskih ispitanica postoji statistički značajna povezanost atribucije bolesti osobnim problemima s anksioznosti. Ispitanice koje navode osobne probleme kao mogući uzrok oboljenja imaju i povećanu anksioznost. Niti jedna atribucija uzroka kao ni identitet bolesti nisu povezani s depresivnosti. Kod muških ispitanika i identitet bolesti i atribucija uzroka osobnim problemima jest statistički značajno povezana s anksioznosti i depresivnosti. Odnosno, pacijenti koji percepciraju veći broj simptoma bolesti te navode osobne probleme kao mogući uzrok oboljenja imaju i povećanu anksioznost i depresivnost. Prevalencija anksioznosti je općenito veća od depresivnosti (24% naspram 22%), dok je negativan afekt češće prisutan u žena (prevalencija anksioznosti kod žena je 27% naspram 23% kod muškaraca; dok je prevalencija depresivnosti 29% kod žena naspram 19% kod muškaraca). Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na to kako je, pored objektivne težine, bitno ispitati i subjektivnu percepciju bolesti jer ona može uvelike utjecati na pacijentovo psihološko blagostanje.The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between number of illness symptoms, causal attribution, anxiety and depression in patients suffering from coronary heart disease. A sample of 165 patients (113 males and 52 females) were recruited from Clinical hospital (KBC) Rijeka and from Thalassotherapy Opatija. Patients were given the revised version of Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The findings show statistically significant correlation between illness symptoms and causal attribution with anxiety and depression in the female sample. Statistically significant correlation has been found between personality and heredity with anxiety. Women that think their own personality or heredity was the cause of their illness also have higher anxiety. None of the causal attributions or illness symptoms where connected with depression in the female sample. In the male sample, both illness symptoms and personality and heredity were connected with anxiety and depression. In other words, men that percieve higher number of illness symptoms and think their own personality or heredity was the cause of their illness also have higher anxiety and depression. In general, there is higher prevalence of anxiety than depression (24% and 22% respectively), and women were found to be more anxious (27% and 23% respectively) and more depressed (29% and 19% respectively) than men. These results show the importance of illness perception as it can play an important role in psychological wellfare of coronary heart disease patients