Coping with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms: the Role of Illness Beliefs and Behaviors
- PDF / 486,173 Bytes
- 8 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 13 Downloads / 213 Views
FULL LENGTH MANUSCRIPT
Coping with Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms: the Role of Illness Beliefs and Behaviors Nicole Sullivan 1 & L. Alison Phillips 2 & Wilfred R. Pigeon 3 & Karen S. Quigley 4,5 & Fiona Graff 1 & David R. Litke 1,6 & Drew A. Helmer 1,7 & Joseph F. Rath 6,8 & Lisa M. McAndrew 1,9
# International Society of Behavioral Medicine 2019
Abstract Background Medically unexplained syndromes (MUS) are both prevalent and disabling. While illness beliefs and behaviors are thought to maintain MUS-related disability, little is known about which specific behavioral responses to MUS are related to disability or the way in which beliefs and behaviors interact to impact functioning. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationship between illness beliefs and disability among patients with MUS, and assess the extent to which behaviors mediate this relationship. Methods The study examined data from the baseline assessment of a multi-site randomized controlled trial (RCT). Participants were 248 veterans with MUS. Illness beliefs, behavioral responses to illness, and disability were assessed through self-report questionnaire. Data were analyzed using mediation analysis. Results Threat-related beliefs predicted greater disability through decreased activity and increased practical support seeking. Protective beliefs predicted less disability through reductions in all-or-nothing behavior and limiting behavior. Conclusions These outcomes suggest that all-or-nothing behavior, limiting behavior, and practical support seeking are important in the perpetuation of disability among those with MUS. This has implications for improving MUS treatment by highlighting potential treatment targets. Trial Registration ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02161133 Keywords MUS . Disability . Illness beliefs . Illness behaviors * Nicole Sullivan [email protected] 1
War Related Illness and Injury Study Center, Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System, 385 Tremont Avenue, East Orange, NJ 07018, USA
2
Department of Psychology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA
3
Center of Excellence for Suicide Prevention, Canandaigua VA Medical Center, Canandaigua, NY, USA
4
Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial VA Hospital, Bedford, MA 01730, USA
5
Department of Psychology, Northeastern University, Boston, MA 02115, USA
6
Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA
7
Department of Medicine, Rutgers University- New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA
8
Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine, New York University Langone Medical Center, New York, NY, USA
9
Department of Educational and Counseling Psychology, University at Albany, 1400 Washington Ave Ext, Albany, NY 12222, USA
Introduction Persistent “medically unexplained” physical symptoms/ syndromes (MUS), such as fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, are prevalent in primary care, disabling, and difficult to treat [1]. The significant disability coupled with the absence of a clear etiology causes c
Data Loading...
