title: Patients' beliefs about the causes of systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Beliefs about the causes of SLE have rarely been investigated. The purpose of this study was to explore these beliefs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Face-to-face interviews were carried out with a total of 33 women with SLE, fulfilling the ACR criteria, with a median age of 40 (range 15-65) years. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women attributed SLE to many causes, some of them being not congruent with biomedical models. The most frequent beliefs about the causes of SLE related to autoimmunity, psychological and familial causes, heredity, magico-religious causes (especially in first- and second-generation migrants) and infectious causes. Autoimmunity was often seen as a self-destructive process.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Being diagnosed with SLE prompted 'Why me?' and 'Why now?' questioning among these women, who attempted to reconstruct coherence in their life histories. For clinicians, analysis of the beliefs about the causes clarifies what is at stake for the patient. The objective is to allow patients to produce narrative to describe their chronic illness experience in order to facilitate a long-term treatment alliance. Further studies are required to understand relationships between beliefs about causes, psychological distress and SLE morbidity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and General Psychiatry, Avicenne Hospital, AP-HP, Université Paris 13, 93000 Bobigny, France. olivier.taieb@avc.aphp.fr
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Taïeb
authors.forename: Olivier
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Bricou
authors.forename: Thierry
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Baubet
authors.forename: Valérie
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Gaboulaud
authors.forename: Béatrice
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Gal
authors.forename: Luc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Mouthon
authors.forename: Robin
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dhote
authors.forename: Loïc
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guillevin
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rose Moro
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000523:psychology; D015551:Autoimmunity; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006167:Guilt; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011594:Psychometrics; D011678:Punishment; D012068:Religion and Medicine; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications; D014171:Transients and Migrants / Q000523:psychology; D055815:Young Adult