Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

How do patients and doctors-to-be perceive systemic lupus erythematosus?

  • Short Communication - Food for Thought
  • Published:
Rheumatology International Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to assess and compare illness perception of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) held by 6th-year medical students and patients suffering from SLE. The study group consisted of 104 students (66 women; 63.5 %), mean age 24.7 (±1), and 64 outpatients with SLE (60 women; 93.7 %). All patients were treated at a university rheumatology outpatient clinic. Mean patients’ age was 44.3 years (±12.5). Mean duration of the disease was 11 years (±6.8). The Polish version of Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) was used to assess five dimensions of illness perception. The students were asked to complete a modified version of B-IPQ designed to measure health professionals’ illness perception. Significant differences were found in all but one B-IPQ scores. The students obtained significantly higher scores than the SLE patients in consequences, identity, concern and emotional response, whereas significantly lower scores in personal control, treatment control and understanding were noted among students. No differences were found in timeline scores. Medical students’ perception of SLE is more threatening and more negative than that of patients’. Doctors-to-be perceive SLE as being less controllable, more burdensome and having more consequences than patients do. Additionally, they believe the disease causes more emotional concern. The article discusses possible explanations together with positive and negative aspects of the discrepancies.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  1. Sutanto B, Singh-Grewal D, McNeil HP et al (2013) Experiences and perspectives of adults living with systemic lupus erythematosus: thematic synthesis of qualitative studies. Arthritis Care Res 65:1752–1765

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. McInnes IB, Combe B, Burmester G (2013) Understanding the patient perspective—results of the Rheumatoid Arthritis: Insights, Strategies & Expectations (RAISE) patient need survey. Clin Exp Rheumatol 31:350–357

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Sanderson T, Kirwan J (2009) Patient-reported outcomes for arthritis: time to focus on personal life impact measures? Arthritis Care Res 2009(61):1–3

    Google Scholar 

  4. McGavock ZC, Treharne G (2011) Young adults’ beliefs about people living with HIV/AIDS and rheumatoid arthritis: thematic analysis of a think-aloud questionnaire investigation. N Z J Psychol 40:71–78

    Google Scholar 

  5. Vollman M, Scharloo M, Salewski Ch et al (2010) Illness representations of depression and perceptions of the helplessness of social support: comparing depressed and never-depressed persons. J Affect Dis 125:213–220

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Al Anbar NN, Dardennes RM, Prado-Netto A, Kayeo K, Conteyean Y (2010) Treatment choices in autism spectrum disorder: the role of parental illness perceptions. Res Dev Disabil 31:817–828

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Figueiras MJ, Weinman J (2003) Do similar patient and spouse perceptions of myocardial infarction predict recovery. Psychol Health 18:201–216

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Holliday J, Wall E, Treasure J, Weinman J (2005) Perceptions of illness in individuals with anorexia nervosa: a comparison with lay men and women. Int J Eat Dis 37:50–56

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Schiaffino KM, Cea CD (1995) Assessing chronic illness representations: the Implicit Model of Illness Questionnaire. J Behav Med 18:531–548

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Moses N, Wiggers J, Nicholas C, Cockburn J (2005) Prevalence and correlates of perceived unmet needs of people with systemic lupus erythematosus. Pat Educ Couns 57:30–38

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Hale ED, Treharne GJ, Kitas GD (2007) The common-sense model of self-regulation of health and illness: how can we use it to understand and respond to our patients’ needs? Rheumatology 46:904–906

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Daleboudt GMN, Broadbent E, Berger SP, Kaptein AA (2011) Illness perception in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and proliferative lupus nephritis. Lupus 20:290–298

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Philip EJ, Lindner H, Lederman L (2009) Relationship of illness perception with depression among individuals diagnosed with lupus. Depress Anxiety 26:575–582

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Nowicka-Sauer K, Banaszkiewicz D, Staśkiewicz I et al (2015) Illness perception in Polish patients with chronic diseases: Psychometric properties of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. J Health Psychol 1359105314565826, first published on Jan 14. doi:10.1177/1359105314565826

  15. Figueiras MJ, Alves NC (2007) Lay perceptions of serious illnesses: an adapted version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) for healthy people. Psychol Health 22:143–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Broadbent E, Petrie KJ, Main J et al (2006) The brief illness perception questionnaire. J Psychosom Res 60:631–637

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Wiginton KL (1999) Illness representations: mapping the experience of lupus. Health Educ Behav 26:443–453

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Hawro T, Krupińka-Kun M, Rabe-Jabłońska J et al (2011) Psychiatric disorders in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: association of anxiety disorder with shorter disease duration. Rheumatol Int 31:1387–1391

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  19. Heijmans M, deRidde D, Bensing J (1999) Dissimilarity in patients’ and spouses’ representations of chronic illness: exploration of relations to patient adaptation. Psychol Health 14:451–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Goodman D, Morrissey S, Graham D, Bossingham D (2005) The application of cognitive-behaviour therapy in altering illness representations of systemic lupus erythematosus. Behav Change 22:156–171

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of Gdańsk, Ul. Dębinki 2, 80-211, Gdańsk, Poland

    Katarzyna Nowicka-Sauer & Małgorzata Pietrzykowska

  2. Department of Statistics, Gdańsk University, Ul. Armii Krajowej 101, Sopot, Poland

    Dorota Banaszkiewicz

  3. Department of Internal Medicine, Connective Tissue Diseases and Geriatrics, Medical University of Gdańsk, Ul. Dębinki 7, Gdańsk, Poland

    Adam Hajduk, Zenobia Czuszyńska & Żaneta Smoleńska

Authors
  1. Katarzyna Nowicka-Sauer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Małgorzata Pietrzykowska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Dorota Banaszkiewicz
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Adam Hajduk
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Zenobia Czuszyńska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Żaneta Smoleńska
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katarzyna Nowicka-Sauer.

Ethics declarations

Funding

This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Conflict of interest

Katarzyna Nowicka-Sauer, Małgorzata Pietrzykowska, Dorota Banaszkiewicz, Adam Hajduk, Zenobia Czuszyńska and Żaneta Smoleńska declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical standards

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Appendix

Appendix

.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Nowicka-Sauer, K., Pietrzykowska, M., Banaszkiewicz, D. et al. How do patients and doctors-to-be perceive systemic lupus erythematosus?. Rheumatol Int 36, 725–729 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-016-3431-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-016-3431-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation