Illness acceptance, pain perception and expectations for physicians of the elderly in Poland

Ageing of society is a significant challenge to public health, both socially and health wise. Adaptation to illness and its acceptance play an important role in control and patients' self-control in many diseases of old age. The right attitude of doctors to patients, especially, geriatric patients determines, among others, a patient's quality of life and acceptance of illness. Recently, there has been observed the rapid development of research on interactions between pain as a physiological process and its perception by an individual. The aim of the study was to evaluate the acceptance of illness, perception of pain and expectations of geriatric patients for physicians among the inhabitants of Bialystok (Poland) over the age of 60.

The study included 300 people, inhabitants of Bialystok and the surrounding area - aged over 60: 100 elderly residents of a nursing home, 100 students of the University of the Third Age in Bialystok and 100 students of the University of Healthy Senior. The study used three standardised psychometric scales: Patient Request Form (PRF), Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS) and The Beliefs about Pain Control Questionnaire (BPCQ).

The median of the overall score of AIS was 26 points, which is considered average in terms of acceptance of illness. The median value of the influence of internal factors on the control of pain in case of BPCQ scale was generally16 of 30 points, the influence of physicians - 15 of 24 points, while random events - 14 of 24 points. The overall result for PRF scale proved that the respondents were the least expected to look for emotional support (5 of 12 points). It was established that the group affiliation significantly affected the result of AIS (p < 0.001). There was also noted a negative relation between AIS and the search for emotional support (PRF) depending on the group. The higher the AIS value, the lower the score in case of search for emotional support (PRF).

Neither gender nor age played a significant role in acceptance of illness, control of pain or expectations for physicians. The key variable determining the occurrence of dependencies between the studied features was being a part of a group. The elderly residents of the nursing home were negatively distinguished from the other two studied groups. The respondents, in regard to other groups described in the literature, were characterised by relatively high values in illness acceptance, pain control and expectations for physicians.