The perceptions of the causes of cardiac diseases: a taxonomy

Area of Science:

• Cardiology
• Psychology
• Medical Sociology

Background:

• Understanding patient-perceived causes of cardiac disease is crucial for effective management and rehabilitation.
• The Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (B-IPQ) is a tool used to assess illness perceptions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the open-ended question of the B-IPQ for collecting causal attributions in cardiac patients.
• To identify, classify, and analyze frequent causal attributions and their relationship with patient characteristics.

Main Methods:

• 2011 cardiac patients completed the B-IPQ and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) during cardiac rehabilitation.
• Qualitative and quantitative text analyses using T-LAB identified prevalent causal attributions and their co-occurrences.

Main Results:

• 26% of patients did not report any causal attribution; this was more common in older, female, less educated, and more depressed patients.
• Smoking and stress were the most frequently reported attributions, followed by genetics, metabolic syndrome, work, and nutrition.
• Four thematic clusters emerged: 'work and stress', 'metabolic syndrome and hypertension', 'displeasures and body care', and 'heredity and other related diseases'.

Conclusions:

• The B-IPQ's open-ended question effectively captures causal attributions in cardiac patients.
• Identified thematic patterns and underreported attributions can guide the development of future closed-ended questions for assessing cardiac disease causes.