Illness perceptions are associated with higher health care use in survivors of endometrial cancer

A survey was conducted by the population-based PROFILES registry endometrial cancer (EC) survivors diagnosed over an 8-year period in the Netherlands. The survey was a combination of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) and questions on health care use in the past 12 months. 742 (77%) responded to the survey. Between 15 and 22% of respondents had negative illness perceptions. Survivors with more negative perceptions were more likely to make one or more visit to their general practitioner (GP) in relation to their cancer when compared with survivors with more positive illness perceptions. The association between negative perceptions and health care use was more prominent among long-term (more than 5 years post-diagnosis) EC survivors. Targeted interventions to address negative illness perceptions and the effect on health care use are an important next step in this group of survivors. Read the full article