OBJECTIVE: Beliefs about the causes of SLE have rarely been investigated. The purpose of this study was to explore these beliefs. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews were carried out with a total of 33 women with SLE, fulfilling the ACR criteria, with a median age of 40 (range 15-65) years. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. RESULTS: Women attributed SLE to many causes, some of them being not congruent with biomedical models. The most frequent beliefs about the causes of SLE related to autoimmunity, psychological and familial causes, heredity, magico-religious causes (especially in first- and second-generation migrants) and infectious causes. Autoimmunity was often seen as a self-destructive process. CONCLUSIONS: Being diagnosed with SLE prompted 'Why me?' and 'Why now?' questioning among these women, who attempted to reconstruct coherence in their life histories. For clinicians, analysis of the beliefs about the causes clarifies what is at stake for the patient. The objective is to allow patients to produce narrative to describe their chronic illness experience in order to facilitate a long-term treatment alliance. Further studies are required to understand relationships between beliefs about causes, psychological distress and SLE morbidity.
OBJECTIVE: Beliefs about the causes of SLE have rarely been investigated. The purpose of this study was to explore these beliefs. METHODS: Face-to-face interviews were carried out with a total of 33 women with SLE, fulfilling the ACR criteria, with a median age of 40 (range 15-65) years. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. RESULTS:Women attributed SLE to many causes, some of them being not congruent with biomedical models. The most frequent beliefs about the causes of SLE related to autoimmunity, psychological and familial causes, heredity, magico-religious causes (especially in first- and second-generation migrants) and infectious causes. Autoimmunity was often seen as a self-destructive process. CONCLUSIONS: Being diagnosed with SLE prompted 'Why me?' and 'Why now?' questioning among these women, who attempted to reconstruct coherence in their life histories. For clinicians, analysis of the beliefs about the causes clarifies what is at stake for the patient. The objective is to allow patients to produce narrative to describe their chronic illness experience in order to facilitate a long-term treatment alliance. Further studies are required to understand relationships between beliefs about causes, psychological distress and SLE morbidity.
Authors: Peter C Grayson; Naomi A Amudala; Carol A McAlear; Renée L Leduc; Denise Shereff; Rachel Richesson; Liana Fraenkel; Peter A Merkel Journal: J Rheumatol Date: 2014-03-15 Impact factor: 4.666