School of Psychology, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK.
Psychol Health Med. 2010 Oct;15(5):540-9. doi: 10.1080/13548506.2010.487109.
Despite the importance of early diagnosis of dementia, little is known about the factors underlying help-seeking in relation to signs of the condition. In this pilot study, we aimed to examine the potential utility of the common sense model (CSM) of illness representations for understanding lay perceptions of dementia and predicting intentions to seek help in relation to possible signs and symptoms. A secondary aim was to develop a measure of (dementia-related) illness representations as a tool for future research. After reading a vignette describing a "relative" with mild or moderate dementia, participants (N = 118) completed measures of illness representations and help-seeking intentions. Analyses compared perceptions of the mild and moderate vignettes and determined the extent to which illness perceptions differentiated between alternative forms of help-seeking (e.g. seeking professional help vs. help from family members). Results indicated that cognitive deficits were more readily identified as dementia than non-cognitive symptoms; these were commonly attributed to stress or depression. Participants were more likely to indicate an intention to seek professional help if they identified the problem in the vignette as dementia, perceived symptoms as severe, as having serious consequences and as likely to be permanent, but less likely to do so if they identified the problem as stress or attributed symptoms to psychological causes. Our preliminary data suggests that help-seeking may be prevented by inaccurate illness representations or misattribution of symptoms. The CSM may provide a useful framework for understanding perceptions of dementia symptoms and for informing help-seeking pathways.
尽管早期诊断痴呆症非常重要，但人们对与该病症相关的求助因素知之甚少。在这项初步研究中，我们旨在检验疾病认知常识模型（CSM）对理解普通民众对痴呆症认知的潜在作用，并预测他们对可能出现的症状寻求帮助的意愿。次要目标是开发一种（与痴呆症相关的）疾病认知的测量工具，作为未来研究的工具。在阅读了描述一位“亲属”患有轻度或中度痴呆症的小插曲后，参与者（N=118）完成了疾病认知和寻求帮助意愿的测量。分析比较了对轻度和中度小插曲的看法，并确定疾病认知在不同形式的寻求帮助之间的差异程度（例如寻求专业帮助与寻求家庭成员帮助）。结果表明，与非认知症状相比，认知缺陷更容易被识别为痴呆症；这些通常归因于压力或抑郁。如果参与者将小插曲中的问题识别为痴呆症、将症状视为严重、具有严重后果且可能是永久性的，他们更有可能表示打算寻求专业帮助，但如果他们将问题识别为压力或将症状归因于心理原因，则不太可能这样做。我们的初步数据表明，不准确的疾病认知或症状的错误归因可能会阻止寻求帮助。CSM 可能为理解痴呆症症状的认知提供有用的框架，并为寻求帮助的途径提供信息。
