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Background: Treatment adherence is an important medical and pharmaco‐economical phenomenon, influenced by multiple variables. Treatment adherence in systemic sclerosis (SSc) has been poorly studied. Objective: The aim of the present study was to assess treatment adherence in SSc patients and to identify factors associated with good and poor adherence. Methods: We conducted a monocentric, cross‐sectional, observational study. Treatment adherence was evaluated by the Compliance Questionnaire of Rheumatology (CQR). The necessity of treatment and concerns about treatment were investigated using the Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire‐Specific (BMQ‐S). The Illness Perception Questionnaire‐Revised (IPQ‐R) assessed illness perceptions. Disease‐related characteristics were collected retrospectively. Results: A total of 66 patients were enrolled in this study. Of these, 47 (71.2%) had a weighted CQR score of ≤80% ("poor adherence") and 19 (28.8%) had a weighted CQR score of >80% ("good adherence"). No significant relationship between demographic, clinical or psychological factors and overall adherence could be found, except with the IPQ subscale "timeline acute/chronic" (p = 0.042). Our patient population estimated the necessity of their medication high (mean necessity score 20.5), with moderate concern beliefs (mean concern score 15.1). Subjective adherence, as self‐reported by patients, was high. Conclusions: This study demonstrated low treatment adherence rates in SSc patients. We could not identify demographic, clinical or psychological factors associated with treatment adherence, except with the IPQ subscale "timeline acute/chronic". This suggests a correlation between poor adherence and the belief that the disease will be chronic without improvement over time. Symptom relief was an important motivating factor for taking medication. The treatment necessity was scored higher than treatment concerns, but the necessity beliefs were not associated with adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: When individuals become ill, they want to understand and give meaning to their illness. The interpretation of this illness experience, or illness perception, is influenced by a range of individual, contextual, and cultural factors. Some of these factors may be modifiable by nursing interventions. The purpose of this systematic review was to investigate which modifiable factors were correlated with illness perceptions across studies of adults with different chronic somatic diseases. Using search terms tailored to each of four electronic databases, studies retrieved were reviewed by two independent evaluators, and each relevant article was assessed for methodological quality. Results were standardized by calculating correlation coefficients. Fifteen papers on illness perceptions in a variety of chronic diseases met the inclusion criteria. All used standardized measures of illness perceptions. We identified five groups of modifiable correlates of illness perceptions: illness‐related factors, psychosocial factors, medication beliefs, information provision and satisfaction with information received, and quality of care. Our findings add to the knowledge of modifiable factors correlated with illness perceptions, including the importance of illness‐related factors and psychosocial factors such as anxiety and depression. Knowledge of these correlates can facilitate understanding of patients' illness perceptions and might be useful in tailoring patient education programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article describes the importance of rheumatology patients' illness perceptions of healthcare professionals (HPs) and interventions that can be used by rheumatology HPs in their interaction with their patients. It notes that patients are the common-sense experts in their disease whose perceptions can be influenced by personal and collective experience like family environment. It suggests the need for interventions to be effective and efficient so HPs have the time for their implementation.

Objective The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between illness perceptions and the ability to cope with physical and mental health problems in a large cohort of systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients. Methods This was a cross-sectional study in 217 systemic sclerosis patients from the Belgian Systemic Sclerosis Cohort. Illness perception and coping were measured by the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire and a coping questionnaire - the Coping Orientation of Problem Experience inventory (COPE). Physical and mental health-related quality of life was measured by the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36), as were disease activity and several severity parameters. The relationship between illness perceptions and the ability to cope with physical/mental health problems was examined using multiple linear regression analysis. Results According to LeRoy's classification, 49 patients had limited SSc (lSSc), 129 had limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and 39 had diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc). Median disease duration was five years and the modified Rodnan skin score was 4. Good physical health was significantly associated with the lcSSc subtype and low disease activity ( p < 0.01 and p < 0.05, respectively). The perception of 'serious consequences' and strong 'illness identity' correlated with poor physical health ( p < 0.001). Good mental health was associated with low illness identity scores and low 'emotional response' scores ( p < 0.001). Coping variables were less significantly correlated with physical and mental health compared with the illness perception items. Conclusion Illness representations contribute more than classical disease characteristics to physical and mental health. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]