[Adjustment to illness in patients with chronic physical diseases--initial experiences with the zurich illness...

270 patients who suffered from gynaecological cancer, epilepsy or diabetes mellitus were examined with a newly developed questionnaire as to their coping behaviour. In order to assess the dimensions and reliability of the instrument, the data were evaluated by different statistical methods. For the three coping patterns established by factor analysis: anxiety/withdrawal, emotional neutrality/diversion and hope/facing of illness, significant correlations resulted with the variables age and sex. The outcome of the investigation suggests that if the disease takes a favourable turn, the chronically ill patient, similarly, copes with it in a favourable manner. For the differentiation and prominence of coping patterns, the patient's subjectively experienced impairment of his physical state of health seems to play an important role.