Illness Representations and Treatment Adherence in Patients with Acute Leukemia and Lymphoma

This study aims to investigate the relationship between of perceptions of illness and its causes, body and health, and illness behavior in relation to treatment adherence in patients with acute leukemia and lymphoma. We present one empirical study involving lymphoma patients (N=58) aged 19 to 64 years (M=41.22; SD=11.17), of whom 70.7% were female, and acute leukemia patients (N=51) aged 18 to 64 years (M=35.12; SD=12.90), of whom 54.9% were female. Participants completed the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R), the Cognitions about body and health questionnaire (CABAH), the Scale for the Assessment of Illness Behavior (SAIB) and 4-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale. The results suggest that patients with lymphoma are at risk for decreased treatment adherence compared to patients with acute leukemia. In acute leukemia, the targets of psychological work aimed at preventing reduced adherence to treatment are patients' perceptions of the psychological causes of the disease and their belief that healthy habits are not important for maintaining health, while in patients with lymphomas — uncertainty that immune problems could provoke the disease.

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