A comparison of the illness beliefs of people with angina and their peers: a questionnaire study

Furze, Gill, Roebuck, Alun, Bull, Peter, Lewin, Robert J. P. and Thompson, David R. (2002) A comparison of the illness beliefs of people with angina and their peers: a questionnaire study. BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, 2 4: 1-5.


Author Furze, Gill
Roebuck, Alun
Bull, Peter
Lewin, Robert J. P.
Thompson, David R.
Title A comparison of the illness beliefs of people with angina and their peers: a questionnaire study
Journal name BMC Cardiovascular Disorders   Check publisher's open access policy
Publication date 2002
DOI 10.1186/1471-2261-2-4
Volume number 2
Issue number 4
ISSN 1471-2261
Start page 1
End page 5
Total pages 5
Place of publication London
Publisher BioMed Central
Language eng
Subject 1102 Cardiovascular Medicine and Haematology
Abstract Background What people believe about their illness may affect how they cope with it. It has been suggested that such beliefs stem from those commonly held within society . This study compared the beliefs held by people with angina, regarding causation and coping in angina, with the beliefs of their friends who do not suffer from angina. Methods Postal survey using the York Angina Beliefs Questionnaire (version 1), which elicits stress attributions and misconceived beliefs about causation and coping. This was administered to 164 people with angina and their non-cohabiting friends matched for age and sex. 132 people with angina and 94 friends completed the questionnaire. Results Peers are more likely than people with angina to believe that angina is caused by a worn out heart (p < 0.01), angina is a small heart attack (p = 0.02), and that it causes permanent damage to the heart (p < 0.001). Peers were also more likely to believe that people with angina should take life easy (p < 0.01) and avoid exercise (p = 0.04) and excitement (p < 0.01). Conclusions The beliefs of the peer group about causation and coping in angina run counter to professional advice. Over time this may contribute to a reduction in patient concordance with risk factor reduction, and may help to create cardiac invalids.

 
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