TITLE:
Illness Perceptions and Illness Outcomes in Patients with Hematologic Diseases: A Narrative Review
AUTHORS:
Christina E. Lekarakou, George Koulierakis, Charalampos G. Pontikoglou
KEYWORDS:
Illness Perceptions, Illness Representations, Hematologic Diseases, Illness Outcomes, Review
JOURNAL NAME:
Psychology,
Vol.15 No.4,
April
10,
2024
ABSTRACT: Background: Patients diagnosed with chronic illnesses form personalized perceptions of their conditions, which guide their coping strategies and illness outcomes. Leventhal’s Common-Sense Model outlines these beliefs, including illness identity, consequences, timeline, causes and controllability. Aims: This narrative review aims to synthesize existing literature examining the association between illness perceptions and illness outcomes in patients with hematologic disorders. Method: An extensive search was conducted in Pubmed, APA PsycInfo and Web of Science databases up to December 2023. Inclusion criteria encompassed adult patients with hematologic disorders, peer-reviewed studies utilizing the Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ), the Revised IPQ or the Brief-IPQ in English and primary studies measuring relationships between illness perceptions and outcome variables. Eight articles met these criteria. Results: Among adults with hematologic diseases, including hemophilia, leukemia and cutaneous lymphoma, patients’ perceptions of their disease have shown interesting associations with outcomes, like anxiety and depression levels, fatigue, psychological well-being and cancer-specific distress. In some reports, negative perceptions have been associated with poorer outcomes. Limitations: Published articles not indexed in the above-mentioned databases or those in the grey literature were not included. Non-English language studies were excluded, while some of the studies did not explore the relationships between illness perceptions and outcomes over time. Conclusions: This review highlights the relationship between illness perceptions and illness outcomes across various hematologic patient populations. Additional studies and longitudinal research are warranted to improve our understanding of how illness perceptions affect outcomes in hematologic disorders, aiming to improve disease management through appropriate interventions.