Misconceived and maladaptive beliefs about heart disease: a comparison between Taiwan and Britain

To assess and compare misconceived and maladaptive beliefs about coronary heart disease between Taiwanese and British people with heart disease.

Holding misconceived and maladaptive beliefs about heart disease has deleterious effects on a patient's quality of life. Cultural contexts influence a person's responses to illness, but little information exists about the ways in which cultural values influence a person's attributions and coping behaviours regarding their heart disease.

A cross-sectional survey using a descriptive comparative design was carried out in Taiwan and Britain.

A structured questionnaire was used to elicit misconceived or potentially maladaptive beliefs about heart disease. People with a confirmed diagnosis of coronary heart disease were recruited from a teaching hospital in Taipei (n = 238) and a tertiary cardiothoracic centre in the North of England (n = 204).

Taiwanese patients held more misconceived and maladaptive beliefs about heart disease than those in Britain. Both British and Taiwanese patients showed high agreement on 'stress is one of the main causes of heart disease' and 'always avoid stress', but these beliefs were more common in Taiwanese patients (p < 0.001). Misconceptions about avoiding anything that might bring on angina were common in both countries.

While there were some similarities in the cardiac beliefs held by the two groups of patients, Taiwanese patients held significantly more misconceptions. This may be explained by differences between the patients' cultures, including social norms, health care provision and health information from the media.

Interventions should be developed to dispel maladaptive beliefs thereby altering the coping actions of patients. The meaning and purpose of specific behaviours needs to be interpreted within the context of a patient's culture. Awareness of cultural perspectives may help to develop nursing care plans that are more successful as they are more individually applicable to patients.