Whose illness is it anyway? Why patient perceptions matter.

Recent studies indicate it is frequently patients' implicit understanding and attitude towards their illness that affect health behaviours such as compliance with medication, follow-up and rehabilitation attendance--important mediators of physical and psychological outcome. An overview of the theory that forms the basis for such findings attempts to explain how illness perceptions mediate health outcome. By examining research which has demonstrated important relationships between illness beliefs and physiological/functional outcome in specific illnesses, this review attempts to bring together psychological theory and clinical outcome measurements; this should demonstrate the value and importance to health-care professionals of considering the patient perception framework.