THE DIMENSIONS OF ILLNESS BELIEFS
Using interviews with patients suffering from a variety of illnesses, Leventhal et al. identified five dimensions of illness beliefs:
1. Identity refers to the label given to the illness (the medical diagnosis) and the symptoms experienced; for example, ‘I have a cold . . .’ (the diagnosis) ‘. . . with a runny nose’ (the symptoms).
2. The perceived cause of the illness – this may be biological (e.g. a virus, in the case of a cold, or an injury or lesion, in the case of another type of illness) or psychosocial (e.g. stress or health-related behaviour). Patients may also hold representations of illness that reflect a variety of different causal models; for example, ‘My cold was caused by a virus’
versus ‘My cold was caused by being run-down’.
3. Time line refers to beliefs about how long an illness will last, whether it is acute (i.e. short term) or chronic (i.e. long term); for example ‘My cold will be over in a few days’.
4. Consequences refers to the patient’s perceptions of the possible effects of the illness on his or her life. These may be physical (e.g. pain, lack of mobility), emotional (e.g. loss of social contact, loneliness) or a combination of factors; for example, ‘My cold will prevent me from playing football, which will prevent me from seeing my friends’.
5. Curability and controllability refers to the patient’s beliefs about whether their illness can be treated and cured, and the extent to which its outcome is controllable (either bythemselves or by others): for example, ‘If I rest, my cold will go away’, ‘If I get medicine from my doctor, my cold will go away’.
Using interviews with patients suffering from a variety of illnesses, Leventhal et al. identified five dimensions of illness beliefs:
1. Identity refers to the label given to the illness (the medical diagnosis) and the symptoms experienced; for example, ‘I have a cold . . .’ (the diagnosis) ‘. . . with a runny nose’ (the symptoms).
2. The perceived cause of the illness – this may be biological (e.g. a virus, in the case of a cold, or an injury or lesion, in the case of another type of illness) or psychosocial (e.g. stress or health-related behaviour). Patients may also hold representations of illness that reflect a variety of different causal models; for example, ‘My cold was caused by a virus’
versus ‘My cold was caused by being run-down’.
3. Time line refers to beliefs about how long an illness will last, whether it is acute (i.e. short term) or chronic (i.e. long term); for example ‘My cold will be over in a few days’.
4. Consequences refers to the patient’s perceptions of the possible effects of the illness on his or her life. These may be physical (e.g. pain, lack of mobility), emotional (e.g. loss of social contact, loneliness) or a combination of factors; for example, ‘My cold will prevent me from playing football, which will prevent me from seeing my friends’.
5. Curability and controllability refers to the patient’s beliefs about whether their illness can be treated and cured, and the extent to which its outcome is controllable (either bythemselves or by others): for example, ‘If I rest, my cold will go away’, ‘If I get medicine from my doctor, my cold will go away’.
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