Illness perceptions in young people with long term conditions
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Illness perceptions in young people with long term conditions
IRAS ID
212752
Contact name
Cara Haines
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Bath
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 5 months, 31 days
Research summary
Studies on adults with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) show that they tend to have certain beliefs about their condition, which are different to the beliefs held by adults with other chronic conditions. These beliefs are thought to impact the way people with CFS recover and how they adjust to their condition. Other studies suggest that depression can feed into the beliefs people have about their condition, which may be related to worse recovery from CFS. However, these theories have not been tested in children with CFS. It is important to understand more about CFS in children, as it can have a huge impact on their daily lives. For example, children with CFS miss an average of one year from school.\n\nMy research will look at whether children with CFS have different beliefs about their condition, compared to children with arthritis or diabetes. I will recruit children aged 11-17, with diabetes or arthritis, through paediatric services in Bath and Bristol. Participants will fill in four brief online questionnaires to measure depression, beliefs about their illness, fatigue and physical functioning. A pre-existing study (which has already received ethical approval) is gathering this information from children with CFS, which I will use as a comparison.\n\nI will analyse the questionnaire results to establish which beliefs are common to all children with long term conditions, which are related to pain and fatigue (common to both CFS and arthritis), and which are specific to CFS. I will also look at whether depression affects the beliefs of children with each of these conditions. It is hoped that by finding out if the beliefs held by children with CFS differ from other conditions, and by finding out if these beliefs are affected by depression, we can adjust the treatment provided to children with CFS to make it more effective.
REC name
Wales REC 3
REC reference
16/WA/0378
Date of REC Opinion
27 Jan 2017
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion