Effects of illness perception and coping on self-management in peritoneal dialysis patients: A cross-sectional study

Aims: Chronic disease self-management is critical to disease prognosis and patient quality of life. Several psychological factors influence this process of self-management. In this background, the present study investigated the impact of illness perceptions and coping styles on self-management in people with peritoneal dialysis (PD). Methods The study is a cross-sectional study. From May 2022 to January 2023, a convenience sampling method was used to recruit 246 peritoneal dialysis patients. General information questionnaire, brief illness perception questionnaire, medical coping modes questionnaire and the self-management scale for peritoneal dialysis patients were used in this study. We used SPSS 24.0 to analyze the data, and the statistical methods included descriptive analysis, single factor analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis. Results A total of 246 patients were included in this study (93.89% response rate). Participants reported higher emotions and concerns about illness, while understanding of illness was low. Illness perceptions were negatively significantly correlated with self-management. With regard to coping styles, our patients were more likely to adopt avoidance and resignation coping styles. Confrontation and avoidance were positively related to self-management, while acceptance-resignation was negatively related. Conclusions Self-management of peritoneal dialysis patients needs to be improved. Age, female sex, monthly income, illness perceptions and coping styles were independently associated with self-management. Impact: These findings suggest that interventions that improve illness perceptions and coping styles should be explored to ultimately improve their self-management.