Acceptance of illness and satisfaction with life among patients with arterial hypertension

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine and compare the degree of acceptance of the disease and the level of satisfaction with life among people with diagnosed hypertension. The research was carried out by means of a diagnostic survey. The study used the scale of AIS - Approval Illness Scale (Acceptance of Illness Scale). For measuring life satisfaction ladder Cantrill was used. It assessed satisfaction with life on a scale from 0 to 10. The study was conducted in June 2014 among the residents of Lubelskie and Świętokrzyskie voivodships. The study was anonymous. The approval of the Bioethics Committee at the Medical University of Lublin (KE-0254/176/2014) was received for carrying out the tests. The study included patients diagnosed with hypertension – total of 154 people. The study has shown the average degree of acceptance of the disease. Illness and healing therapy did not impact negatively the functioning of most respondents. The respondents described their adaptation to the limitations imposed by the disease in different degrees. The vast majority of respondents did not have any problems arising from the disease and did not abandon their favorite activities. Every third respondent with hypertension felt as being a defective person and dependent on other people. The relation between satisfaction with their own lives, and the level of acceptance of the disease was concluded in that study. The higher the degree of satisfaction with patients’ lives, the higher the acceptance of illness. Studies have shown positive correlations between gender, age, place of residence, duration of illness and education, and acceptance of the disease. In contrast, there was no statistically significant association between marital status and the test subject.