Illness perceptions and coping determine quality of life in COPD patients

Jitske Tiemensma*, Erin Gaab, Maarten Voorhaar, Guus Asijee, Adrian A. Kaptein

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

A key goal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) care is to improve patients' quality of life (QoL). For outcomes such as QoL, illness perceptions and coping are important determinants. Aim: The primary aim was to assess the associations between illness perceptions, coping and QoL in COPD patients. A secondary aim was to compare illness perceptions and coping of patients with reference values derived from the literature. Patients and methods: A total of 100 patients were included in the study. Patients were asked to complete the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ), the Utrecht Proactive Coping Competence scale (UPCC), and a QoL item. Correlations and linear regression models were used to analyze the data. Student's t-tests were used to compare patients with COPD with reference values derived from the literature. Results: Patients with better understanding of COPD utilized more proactive coping strategies (P=0.04). A more intense emotional response to COPD was related to less proactive coping (P=0.02). Patients who reported using more proactive coping techniques also reported to have a better QoL (P
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)2001-2007
JournalInternational journal of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
Volume11
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2016

Keywords

  • COPD
  • illness perceptions
  • coping
  • QoL
  • common sense model

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