Role of psychosocial resources and acceptance of disease in maintaining health with asthma / Rola zasobów psychospołecznych oraz akceptacji choroby w zachowaniu zdrowia w astmie

Introduction. Asthma is a chronic disease. Risky health behaviours among patients like exposure to allergens or stress, smoking, irregular drug taking, lack of physical activity can exacerbate the condition. Psychosocial resources, like self-efficacy, social support and patient’s acceptance of the condition may prove helpful in coping with the disease.

Aim. Investigating health behaviours among asthmatic patients, discussing psychosocial resources and assessing the degree of disease acceptance in order to account for the relationship between the latter two variables.

Material and methods. The study group included 100 patients suffering from asthma. A questionnaire designed especially for investigating that group of patients, as well as two standardized tools (the Acceptance of Illness Scale and the General Self-Efficacy Scale) were used. A chi-square test was used for performing a statistical analysis. the level of significance was set at p <0.05.

Results. Some 43% of patients assessed their acceptance of the condition as medium, while another 52% assessed their self-efficacy as average. Almost all respondents (91%) received support from their loved ones. Almost all admitted they engaged in some physical activity. Most respondents took drugs irregularly and were exposed to stress; more than a half declared exposure to allergens. The higher their self-efficacy was, the more likely they were to engage in sport activities. Self-efficacy and acceptance of the disease by respondents resulted in a significant decrease in asthma exacerbation incidence. The more support they received, the higher their acceptance of the disease was.

Conclusions. The respondents showed both positive and negative health behaviours. Self-efficacy was a significant predictor/ indicator of physical activity only. There was a significant relationship between the support that the patients received and their acceptance of the disease.