title: Exploring the relationships between health status, illness perceptions, coping strategies and psychological morbidity in a chronic kidney disease cohort.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Using the common sense model of illness adjustment, this study aimed to explore the impact of chronic kidney disease (CKD) on individual illness perceptions, coping styles and psychological well-being.
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty individuals (50 men and 30 women) with an average age of 62.66 years (standard deviation, 11.98) were included in the study. All participants were under the care of the Renal Unit of a metropolitan tertiary referral hospital. Twenty-nine patients (36%) had CKD stage 3b-4, and 51 (64%) had CKD stage 5 (or end stage kidney disease [ESKD]). Disease severity was evaluated using the health perceptions questionnaire, coping styles assessed with the Carver brief COPE scale, illness perceptions explored with the brief illness perceptions questionnaire and anxiety and depression measured using the hospital anxiety and depression scale.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The hospital anxiety and depression scale assessment revealed 13 patients (16.3%) with moderate or severe anxiety and 6 (7.5%) with moderate depression. Consistent with the common sense model, disease activity had a significant direct influence on illness perceptions, while, in turn, illness perceptions had a significant direct influence on depression and anxiety. Adaptive and maladaptive coping were found to mediate the relationship between illness perceptions, and anxiety and depression.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The results provide evidence that it is the perception of an illness rather than the actual symptoms themselves that best account for adaption to CKD. These findings suggest that intervention strategies aimed at increasing psychological well-being need to focus on changing illness perceptions rather than improving symptoms of CKD or coping mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology (SK, LS), Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne, Australia; and Departments of Psychiatry (SK, MS, DC), Department of Nephrology (RL) St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne, Australia.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Knowles
authors.forename: Lauren
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Swan
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Salzberg
authors.forename: David
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Castle
authors.forename: Robyn
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Langham
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000368:Aged; D015331:Cohort Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006306:Health Surveys / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D051436:Renal Insufficiency, Chronic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*