Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-2plfb Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:41:41.686Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Illness behaviour in neurological inpatients with psychiatric morbidity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 April 2020

Lefteris Lykouras*
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Eginition” Hospital, Athens, Greece First Department of General Hospital Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Attikon” Hospital, 1, Rimini Street, 124 10Athens, Greece
Maria Vassiliadou
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Eginition” Hospital, Athens, Greece
Dora Adrachta
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Eginition” Hospital, Athens, Greece
Argyro Voulgari
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Eginition” Hospital, Athens, Greece
Nikos Kalfakis
Affiliation:
Department of Neurology, Athens University Medical School, “Eginition” Hospital, Athens, Greece
Constantine R. Soldatos
Affiliation:
Department of Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Eginition” Hospital, Athens, Greece First Department of General Hospital Psychiatry, Athens University Medical School, “Attikon” Hospital, 1, Rimini Street, 124 10Athens, Greece
*
Corresponding author. Fax: +30 210 532 6416. E-mail address: [email protected] (L. Lykouras).
Get access

Abstract

Objective.

The aim of the present study was to examine whether psychiatric morbidity can influence the type of illness behaviour of neurological inpatients.

Methods.

For this purpose, we compared neurological inpatients with and without psychiatric disorders (DSM-IIIR criteria) for the seven scales of Illness Behaviour Questionnaire (IBQ) and searched for possible differences between the two patient subgroups.

Results.

Of the 105 neurological inpatients who participated in the study, 54 (51.4%) were diagnosed as having some type of psychiatric disorder. These patients scored significantly higher than patients without psychiatric morbidity in the scale of Irritability. A suggestive trend for higher scores in the scales of Hypochondriasis, Disease Conviction, and Affective Disturbance, and significantly lower score in the scale of Denial, in patients with psychiatric morbidity, were also found.

Conclusion.

The present study has shown that neurological inpatients with psychiatric morbidity tend to develop more intense illness behaviour than those without. The effect of psychiatric morbidity on certain components of illness behaviour in neurological patients can be taken into account when therapeutic strategies are planned.

Type
Original articles
Copyright
Copyright © European Psychiatric Association 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

American Psychiatric Association 1987. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders, 3rd ed. revised. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press, 1987.Google Scholar
Barsky, A., Coeytaux, R., Sarnie, M., Cleary, P.D.Hypochondriacal patients’ beliefs about good health. Am. J. Psychiatry 1993;150:10851089.Google ScholarPubMed
Bridges, K., Goldberg, D.P.Psychiatric illness in in-patients with neurological disorders: patients’ views on discussion of emotional problems with neurologists. Br. Med. J 1984;289:656658.10.1136/bmj.289.6446.656CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cassileth, B.R., Lusk, E.J., Strouse, T.B., Miller, D.S., Brown, L.L., Cross, P.A., et al.Psychosocial status in chronic illness: a comparative analysis of six diagnostic groups. N. Engl. J. Med 1984;311:506511.10.1056/NEJM198408233110805CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colgan, S., Creed, F., Klass, H.Symptom complaints, psychiatric disorder, and abnormal illness behaviour in patients with upper abdominal pain. Psychol. Med 1988;18:887892.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Denton, F., Sharpe, L., Shrieber, L.PRISM: enmeshment of illness and self-schema. Psychother. Psychosom 2004;73:5763.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fava, G.A., Pilowsky, I., Pierfederici, A., Bernardi, M.Depressive symptoms and abnormal illness behaviour in general hospital patients. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry 1982;4:171178.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Heijmans, M.The role of patient’s illness representations in coping and functioning with Addison’s disease. Br. J. Health Psychol 1999;4:137149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metcalfe, R., Firth, D., Pollock, S., Creed, F.Psychiatric morbidity and illness behaviour in female neurological in-patients. J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry 1988;51:13871390.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Murphy, H., Dickens, C., Creed, F., Bernstein, R.Depression, illness perception and coping with rheumatoid arthritis. J. Psychosom. Res 1999;46:155164.10.1016/S0022-3999(98)00073-7CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pilowsky, I.Abnormal illness. Behaviour. In: Handbook of social psychiatry. London: Elsevier; 1988.Google Scholar
Pilowsky, I.Abnormal illness behaviour. New York: Wiley; 1997.Google Scholar
Pilowski, I., Spence, N.D.Manual for the illness behaviour questionnaire (IBQ). Adelaide: University of Adelaide; 1994.Google Scholar
Rief, W., Ihle, D., Pilger, F.A new approach to assess illness behaviour. J. Psychosom. Res 2003;54:405414.10.1016/S0022-3999(02)00401-4CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rumpf, H.-J., Löntz, W., Vesseler, S.A self-administered version of a brief measure of suffering: first aspects of validity. Psychother. Psychosom 2004;73:5356.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Salmon, P., Mikhail, G., Stanford, C., Zielinsks, , Pepper, JRPsychological adjustment after cardiac transplantation. J. Psychosom. Res 1998;45:449458.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Saravay, S., Lavin, M.Psychiatric comorbidity and length of stay in the general hospital: a critical review of outcome studies. Psychosomatics 1994;35:233252.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shaw, J., Creed, F.The cost of somatization. J. Psychosom. Res 1994;35:307312.10.1016/0022-3999(91)90085-3CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Spitzer, R., Williams, J.Structured clinical interview for DSM-IIIR. New York: New York Psychiatric Institute; 1985.Google Scholar
Turner, J., Kelly, B.Emotional dimensions of chronic disease. West J. Med 2000;172:124128.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wancata, J., Benda, N., Windhaber, J., Nowotny, M.Does psychiatric comorbidity increase the length of stay in general hospitals? Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry 2001;23:814.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yingqiu, G., Toshihide, K., Shunzo, K.Abnormal illness behaviour of patients with functional somatic symptoms: relation to psychiatric disorders. Gen. Hosp. Psychiatry 2001;23:223229.Google Scholar
Submit a response

Comments

No Comments have been published for this article.