Effects of an in-hospital nursing intervention on changing illness perceptions in patients with injury

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing intervention in changing the illness perceptions of injured patients.

Illness perceptions have been found to be among the important patient outcomes after an injury. Research has suggested that a designed intervention might be an effective means of shaping injured patients' illness perceptions.

An experimental study design was employed.

A total of 82 injured patients completed this study, with 42 in the experimental group and 40 in the control group. Data were collected from 2011-2013. A trained nurse practitioner delivered an in-hospital nursing intervention according to self-regulatory theory. The outcome measure was the change in illness perceptions of injury among the patients as measured by the Chinese Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised-Trauma (the Chinese IPQ-R-Trauma), which comprises eight subscales. The experimental and control groups were followed up via telephone survey 3 months after discharge. The generalized estimating equations were used to analyse the data.

The results showed statistically significant differences on two subscales of the Chinese IPQ-R-Trauma, Identity and Controllability, before and after the intervention. Results for the remaining six subscales did not change significantly. The findings indicate that the intervention resulted in a decrease in injury-related physical symptoms and in increases in positive perceptions among patients about controlling their postinjury condition.

This nursing intervention led to changes in patients' illness perceptions and potentially improved the patients' self-regulation after their injuries. Future research can be conducted to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention protocol.