[Subjective theories of illness in the Greek culture]

In this cross-sectional study, 100 Greeks were asked about their lay theories for cancer and myocardial infarction via a standardized questionnaire. Most Greeks questioned are to some extent informed about both diseases and receive their information from the media. In contrast to the epidemiologic data, the results of this study show that the Greeks questioned only rarely know of relatives suffering from myocardial infarction, but have often experienced close relatives with cancer. As a possible pathogenesis they believe in a combination or interaction of psychological and somatic components. Most of them are more likely to think of cancer as a disease with somatic causes while myocardial infarction is more often held to be psychologically evoked. Main causal attributions are unhealthy way of life, pollution and predisposition. Negative environmental factors are thought of as the leading cause of cancer, while psychosocial stress is thought to be the leading cause of myocardial infarction. Both diseases are believed to be very dangerous. However, the Greeks questioned believe in better chances for prevention and therapy of myocardial infarction than of cancer. With respect to subgroup analyses, education shows the most important influence: Better educated subjects show a significantly stronger internal and less fatalistic orientation than the less educated Greeks. The males questioned are more likely to hold psychosocial factors responsible for the onset of myocardial infarction and thus are more internally oriented than their female counterparts. The older Greeks tend to believe significantly stronger in external causes like negative environmental factors and negative aspects of life than the younger Greeks of the sample.