Aim: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a nursing intervention in changing the illness perceptions of injured patients.
Background: Illness perceptions have been found to be among the important patient outcomes after an injury. Research has suggested that a designed intervention might be an effective means of shaping injured patients' illness perceptions.
Design: An experimental study design was employed.
Methods: A total of 82 injured patients completed this study, with 42 in the experimental group and 40 in the control group. Data were collected from 2011-2013. A trained nurse practitioner delivered an in-hospital nursing intervention according to self-regulatory theory. The outcome measure was the change in illness perceptions of injury among the patients as measured by the Chinese Illness Perception Questionnaire Revised-Trauma (the Chinese IPQ-R-Trauma), which comprises eight subscales. The experimental and control groups were followed up via telephone survey 3 months after discharge. The generalized estimating equations were used to analyse the data.
Results: The results showed statistically significant differences on two subscales of the Chinese IPQ-R-Trauma, Identity and Controllability, before and after the intervention. Results for the remaining six subscales did not change significantly. The findings indicate that the intervention resulted in a decrease in injury-related physical symptoms and in increases in positive perceptions among patients about controlling their postinjury condition.
Conclusions: This nursing intervention led to changes in patients' illness perceptions and potentially improved the patients' self-regulation after their injuries. Future research can be conducted to enhance the effectiveness of the intervention protocol.
Keywords: illness perceptions; illness representations; injury; nursing intervention.
© 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.