Abstract
Aim
Knowledge about chronic conditions may be a basis to enable coping with them more effectively. However, more research is needed to examine whether knowledge levels in chronically ill individuals are superior to levels of those without chronic conditions. Our aim was to investigate differences in disease-specific knowledge in individuals with and without specific chronic conditions.
Subject and methods
A stratified and population-based sample of 4,144 individuals from Germany aged 35 and older with and without chronic conditions formed the basis of the investigation. Knowledge was measured using a validated health knowledge test with six subscales on specific conditions, namely cardiovascular disease, cancer, respiratory diseases, conditions of the musculoskeletal system, major depression, and chronic pain.
Results
We found better knowledge in those suffering from respiratory diseases and musculoskeletal system conditions, no difference in those with cardiovascular diseases and depression, and lower values of disease-specific knowledge in individuals with chronic pain compared to those without the respective chronic condition. Results were adjusted for gender, age, education, health literacy, and other conditions.
Conclusion
People suffering from chronic conditions do not necessarily know more about their conditions. Better knowledge in individuals with respiratory diseases and diseases of the musculoskeletal system may be due to tailored health education. The unexpected effect in chronic pain patients may be related to false beliefs about the nature of their condition. Health education programs should address disease-specific barriers.
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Change history
30 January 2018
The journal had been advised to revise the title so that Clarivate Analytics can try to count the citations more accurately. There’s been confusion due to the existence of another journal with the same name.
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This material is based on work conducted and supported by the Pfizer Deutschland GmbH. Any findings and conclusions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Pfizer Deutschland GmbH.
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PG has received research grants and a speaker honorarium from Pfizer Deutschland GmbH. MK is employee at Pfizer Deutschland GmbH. None of the other authors has any conflicting interests.
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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.
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The original version of this article was revised: Due to the existence of another journal with the same name, the Publisher has added a subtitle, “From Theory to Practice.” Effective as of January 2018, the new title of this Journal is Journal of Public Health: From Theory to Practice.
A correction to this article is available online at https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0893-1.
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Gellert, P., Ernsting, C., Salm, F. et al. Disease-specific knowledge in individuals with and without chronic conditions. J Public Health 26, 145–150 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0855-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10389-017-0855-7