Classification of illness attributions in patients with coronary artery disease

• Published in: Psychology & health Vol. 36; no. 11; pp. 1368 - 1383
• Main Authors: Friedrich, Oliver, Kunschitz, Evelyn, Pongratz, Lisa, Wieländer, Sophia, Schöppl, Christine, Sipötz, Johann
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Routledge 02.11.2021; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Anxiety; attribution theory; Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire; Cardiovascular disease; Causal attributions; Classification; Coronary Artery Disease - psychology; Coronary vessels; Humans; illness perception; Illnesses; Patients; Quality of Life - psychology; Social Perception; Surveys and Questionnaires; Vein & artery diseases; Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire; attribution theory; Causal attributions; illness perception
• ISSN: 0887-0446; 1476-8321
• DOI: 10.1080/08870446.2020.1851688

To examine patient-reported causal attributions in patients with coronary artery disease and classify them according to attribution theory. Patients with angiographically verified coronary artery disease (n = 459) were asked to report causal attributions by answering the respective open-ended item of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Groups resulting from classifications were characterised with regard to sociodemographic and clinical variables, Quality of Life (SF-12), depression (PHQ-9), anxiety (GAD-7), and illness perception (BIPQ). Stress emerged as the single most important attribution followed by various behavioural factors and genetic predisposition. There was a remarkable mismatch between the presence of modifiable risk factors (smoking, obesity) and patient-reported illness attributions. Based on the results of the descriptive categorisation of illness attributions we developed a transparent, easily reproducible scheme for dimensional classification of the fifteen most common responses according to attribution theory. The classification resulted in four groups: Behaviour/Emotional State, Past Behaviour/Emotional State, Physical/Psychological Trait and External. We found a pattern of illness attributions largely in line with previous trials. The dimensional classification resulted in four groups and highlighted potential entry points for physician-patient communication aimed at establishing beneficial disease self-management.