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Illness representation and change in dietary habits in hypercholesterolemic patients
Marie-France Coutu1, Gilles Dupuis, Bianca D'Antono
1Department of Psychology, Université du Québec à Montréal, C. P. 8888, Succ. Down Town, Canada H3C 3P8. dupuis.gilles@uqam.ca
Unlabelled:
The association between a patient's illness representation and long-term changes in treatment adherence still needs to be clarified.
Aim:
to evaluate the association between the representation of hypercholesterolemia and dietary modifications over 1-year, controlling for biopsychosocial factors.
Methods:
208 hypercholesterolemic Caucasian patients. Measures of dietary intake, illness representation, and biopsychosocial factors were collected at baseline, 3, 6, and 12 months.
Results:
Two multiple regressions were performed on the 1-year change in dietary habits; one with subjects with elevated fat consumption at baseline, another with individuals with low-moderate fat consumption. Higher scores on items reflecting an accurate illness representation at baseline were associated with greater dietary modification among patients of the first group. For patients with low-moderate total fat consumption, maintenance of dietary habits was associated to lower scores on the perception of stress and symptoms.
Conclusion:
To optimize adherence, intervention on illness representation should be adjusted according to initial dietary habits.