Illness perceptions, coping and psychological outcomes in inflammatory bowel disease

Introduction: Living with Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) can bring significant psychosocial challenges, and have a detrimental impact of many aspects of an individual’s life. Illness perceptions are thought to play a key role in processes of adjustment to IBD. This review aimed to synthesise the literature on illness perceptions in IBD, as it relates to the key outcomes of quality of life, psychological distress and medication adherence.

Method: Five online databases were systematically searched in October 2023 to identify relevant literature. A total of 25 studies met inclusion criteria. Studies were assessed and generally deemed to be of good quality. A narrative synthesis of findings was conducted.

Results: Poorer illness perceptions were associated with a lower quality of life and greater levels of psychological distress. A complex pattern of findings was reported regarding individual illness perceptions and outcomes. No single illness perception was observed to have a strong association with medication adherence.

Discussion: The complex pattern of findings limits firm conclusions. Findings were related to previous literature, and weaknesses of this literature were identified. Clinical and research implications are provided, including the potential utility of total illness perception scores for clinical screening or as a target in intervention research.