Psychological Factors and Asthma Control Flashcards
What policy should we be aware off reagrding the psycholoigcal factors in the control of asthma?
- asthma and one or more psychosocial factors = risk of death
- difficult asthma is commonly assoictaed with coexistent psycholoigcal morbidity
- assessment of psychosocial morbidity should be perfirmed as part of a difficult asthma assessment
Why are psychological factors important?
- impact of disease process - difficulties with adherence to treatmenr or taking in information
- respiratory illness has singificant psychological impact
- reduced QOL compared to healthy controls
- Psycholoigcal therapy can help us understand health behaviours
What does evidence show the causes of psychological factors of asthma to to be assoicated with?
- asthma rekated deaths
- near fatal asthma
- brittle asthma
- non-compliance
- A&E visits
- depression, anxiety, panic and denial
What are the main emotions assoicated with asthma?
- Depression
- Panic
- Denial
- Congitive factors
- reduced confidence
- beleifs around vulnerability
Is there a high prevalence of anxiety in asthma ?
YES
- up to 33% of children/adolescents
- 6.5-24% of adults
What are the main experiences felt when the SNS is stimulated?
- thoughts racing
- changes to vision
- heart beats faster
- breathing becomes quicker and shallower
- adrenal glands release adrenaline
- bladder urgenecy
- palms become sweaty
- hands get cold
- muscles tense
The body can distibguish between actual danger and the thought of danger
What are the main symptoms of anxiety?
- Psychological cues
- thoughts that something bad is going to happen
- fear of losing control
- sense of dead, impending doom
- loss of confidence
- Behavioural cues
- fidgeting
- hesitating
- avoidance
- shaking
- Cognitive cues
- difficulties concentrating
- memory problems
What is breathlessness a symptoms of?
respiratory disease and panic attacks
What is denial used as ?
A coping strategy
not good in the long term
What is impairment?
any loss or abnormality of psychological, ohysiological or anatomical structure or function
What is a disability?
any restirction or lack of ability to perform an activity (resulting from impairment) relative to priort status
What does internal focus refer to?
about the individual
Draw a diagram indicating the holistic view of QOL
What is disability an umbrella term for?
impairments, activity limitations and participation restrictions, referring to the negative aspects of the interaction between an individual and that individuals contextual factors
What is the problem with the biomedical model of illness?
assumes there is a direct correlation between illness and the symptoms someone is experiencing
Draw the biopsychosocial model of illness
What does the common sense model of illness look at?
- looks at how a person makes sense of their condition
- illness represenations and how these go on to affect mood, motivation and behaviour
What are the 5 main aspects of the common sense model of illness?
- Identity: name, signs and symptoms
- Cause: internal or external
- Consequences: physical, social, economic, emotional
- Time-line: acute, recurrent, chronic
- Cure / Control
Draw the common sense model of illness
What are the benefits of finding causal attributions in ashtma?
- Knowing the cause of an illness or other traumatic incident can helps make the experience less anxiety provoking and the future more predictable.
- The process of finding a cause(s) for an asthma attack helps patients to make sense of their illness experience to guide their future actions to cope with the condition – their self-management.
Summary of the affect of the psycological factors that impact asthma control
» Models of health behaviour can help us understand the relationship between psychological distress and impact on asthma and quality of life
» Psychological factors such as depression, anxiety, fear and panic can lead to worsening of asthma symptoms and sub-optimal self- management
» Self-management of asthma prevents exacerbations, improves care and is a cost effective investment for healthcare services
