An exploratory study of associations between illness perceptions and adjustment and changes after psychosocial rehabilitation in survivors of breast cancer

BACKGROUND. Although psychosocial interventions have been found to be beneficial for cancer patients, the role of the patients' perceptions of illness in these interventions remains unclear. We examined illness perceptions and psychological adjustment (distress and QoL) among women who had survived breast cancer and attended a psychosocial rehabilitation course. MATERIAL AND METHODS. From an ongoing longitudinal study, we used data from two sub-studies with a total of 177 survivors (145 from the descriptive study and 32 from the randomised trial). The survivors from the descriptive study and the half of the randomised survivors attended a 1-week rehabilitation course, whereas the other half of the randomised survivors only received standard care (no intervention). All survivors filled out a questionnaire 2.5 weeks before and one and six months after the course. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION. No differences in the change of illness perceptions and the level of psychological adjustment were observed between the three groups of survivors between baseline and one and six months of follow-up. Baseline analyses showed that illness perceptions were associated with distress and QoL. This study indicates that illness perceptions are associated with adjustment; however, illness perceptions did not change after participation in a one-week multi-component rehabilitation course.