Symptom Perception Flashcards
Definition of attention
How much we focus on internal and external stimuli info received from our sensory receptors
Definition of attribution
Long term info stored in meaningful categories, influenced by past learning and new assimilated knowledge
Definition of schema symmetry rule
Cycle of finding symptoms and associating them correctly /incorrectly with an illness label that fits
Definition of appraisal delay
Time taken to attribute a symptom to an illness
Defintion of illness delay
Time taken to reach a decision about if treatment is needed
Definition of utilisation delay
Time taken between symptom detection and presenting to a doctor
Definition of heuristics
People making judgements based on rules of thumb (age)
What is the relationship between symptom perception and objective markers
Symptom reports do not correlate with objective tests/markers
Biomedical model assumes a 1:1 ratio between physiological change and symptom reports
Psychological factors account for the non linear relationship
What is attention and how do unstimulating environments affect our attention
The degree of attention we pay to our internal body states influences symptom perception
We have a limited capacity to process many external and internal inputs
Unstimulating environments => less competition on attentional capacity => more likely to detect changes in internal states
What is attribution
What 3 things can symptoms be attributed to and what can these attributions lead to
People try to make sense of their symptoms by attributing them to what they know
Influenced by past learning and new assimilated knowledge
Symptoms can be attributed to -somatic -psychological -environmental causes Different attributions lead to different actions
What are attributions based on
Prior illness experience
Interaction with peers and media
Interactions with medical professionals
How are attributions organised and how can they change
-5 factors
Identity
-symptoms linked to a specific illness label
Cause
-aetiology
Timeline
-expected duration
Consequences
-impact of symptoms
Cure and control
-steps needed to manage symptoms
Patient has considered these attributions before seeing the doctor and is likely to reconsider attributions by adding new info
What is the schema symmetry rule
Illness label <=> detection of symptoms
Vicious cycle finding symptoms and associating them with an illness label that fits
How do negative emtions impact our symptom perception
Increased negative emotions => increased symptom reporting
Negative emotions => hypervigilance to health threats => physiological arousal symptoms => attributed incorrectly to physical illness
Catastrophic interpretation of environment and symptoms
What are the 3 reasons for delays in help seeking
Appraisal delay
-time taken to attribute a symptom to an illness
Illness delay
-time taken to reach a decision about if treatment is needed
Utilisation delay
-time taken between symptom detection and presenting to a health care servie
