title: Health-related behavior, profile of health locus of control and acceptance of illness in patients suffering from chronic somatic diseases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of the study was to determine health-related behaviors, profile of health locus of control (HLC), and to assess the relationships between these constructs among patients suffering from chronic somatic diseases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Three-hundred adult patients suffering from various chronic diseases participated in the study. The patients' mean age was 54.6 years (SD = 17.57).
  
  
  RESULTS
  No statistically significant differences were found between the different clinical groups in health-related behavior, acceptance of illness, internal HLC or chance HLC. Patients with neurologic conditions showed slightly lower powerful others HLC than did some other clinical groups. Health-related behavior was significantly positively related to all three categories of HLC, with most prominent associations observed with powerful others HLC. Only one type of health-related behavior--preventive behavior--correlated significantly and negatively with acceptance of illness. Differences in the frequency of health-related behavior were also found due to gender (women showing more healthy nutritional habits than men), age (older subjects showing more frequent health-promoting behavior), education (higher education was associated with less frequent health-promoting behavior) and marital status (widowed subjects reporting more frequent health-promoting behavior).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Health-related behavior in patients with chronic diseases seems to be unrelated to a specific diagnosis; however it shows associations with both internal and external HLC. Sociodemographic factors are also crucial factors determining frequency of health-related behavior in such patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Finance and Management, Warsaw, Poland.
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Janowski
authors.forename: Donata
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kurpas
authors.forename: Joanna
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kusz
authors.forename: Bozena
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Mroczek
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Jedynak
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001294:Attitude to Health; D002908:Chronic Disease / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult