Abstract
Study Design
Cross-sectional descriptive.
Introduction
Hand injuries are highly prevalent, and the impact they have on physical, emotional,
and functional adjustment is well recognized. Increasingly, adjustment to health conditions
including hand injuries is being understood in terms of psychological variables.
Purpose of the Study
To examine the role of illness beliefs and coping strategies in adjustment to hand
injury. Adjustment was considered from a complete perspective including quality of
life (QOL) and functional ability as well as mood and trauma symptoms.
Methods
Cross-sectional survey whereby consecutive patients (n = 65) attending the regional plastic surgery service with hand injuries were invited
to complete a questionnaire assessing illness perceptions, coping strategies, QOL,
hand functioning, depression, and trauma symptoms. Data were analyzed in SPSS (IBM
Corporation, Armonk, NY) by correlation and then hierarchical regression analysis.
Results
Illness perceptions and coping strategies were significantly related to the adjustment
outcomes (hand functioning, QOL, depression, and trauma symptoms). Specifically, poorer
adjustment was associated with more negative illness beliefs (r = 0.31-0.47), greater use of denial (r = 0.24-0.53), and avoidance-based (r = 0.41-0.64) coping strategies.
Discussion
Illness beliefs and coping play an important role in adjustment after hand injury.
Adjustment is multifaceted with a need to consider physical and emotional functioning.
More optimistic beliefs and adaptive coping styles are associated with improved adjustment.
Conclusion
The role of psychological variables in optimizing adjustment is an important consideration
for the design of psychological interventions, but because this study was cross sectional
and cannot assume directional effects, future longitudinal studies are needed.
Level of Evidence
N/A.
Keywords
To read this article in full you will need to make a payment
Purchase one-time access:
Academic & Personal: 24 hour online accessCorporate R&D Professionals: 24 hour online accessOne-time access price info
- For academic or personal research use, select 'Academic and Personal'
- For corporate R&D use, select 'Corporate R&D Professionals'
Subscribe:
Subscribe to Journal of Hand TherapyAlready a print subscriber? Claim online access
Already an online subscriber? Sign in
Register: Create an account
Institutional Access: Sign in to ScienceDirect
References
- Patterns of hand fractures and dislocations in a district general hospital.J Hand Surg Eur. 1993; 18: 511-514
- Injuries to the hand and wrist. A study of 50,272 injuries.J Hand Surg Eur. 1993; 18: 642-644
- A regional audit of hand wrist injuries. A study of 4873 injuries.J Hand Surg Eur. 1998; 23: 196-200
- Illness representations in patients with hand injury.J Plast Reconstr Aesthet Surg. 2009; 62: 927-932
- Ten years follow-up of trauma-related psychological distress in a cohort of patients with acute traumatic hand injury.Int J Orthop Trauma Nurs. 2012; 16: 128-135
- Body image and disfigurement: issues and interventions.Body Image. 2004; 1: 83-97
- Psychological issues after a traumatic hand injury: facilitating adjustment.J Hand Ther. 2011; 24: 95-102
- Adaptation to hand injury: an evolving experience.Am J Occup Ther. 2004; 58: 128-139
- Determinants of disability after fingertip injuries.Psychosomatics. 2014; 55: 371-380
- Hand fractures: a review of current treatment strategies.J Hand Surg Am. 2013; 38: 1021-1031
- Self-management strategies used by patients who are hypersensitive to cold following a hand injury. A prospective study with two years follow-up.J Hand Ther. 2015; 28: 46-52
- Does a DVD improve compliance with home exercise programs for people who have sustained a traumatic hand injury? Results of a feasibility study.Disabil Rehabil Assist Technol. 2014; 9: 188-194
- A systematic review of prognostic factors for return to work following a work-related traumatic hand injury.J Hand Ther. 2014; 27: 55-62
- Recovering from traumatic occupational hand injury following surgery: a biopsychosocial perspective.J Occup Rehabil. 2013; 23: 536-546
- Integration of occupation based intervention in hand injury rehabilitation: a randomized controlled trial.J Hand Ther. 2016; 29: 30-40
- The psychological impact of severe hand injury.J Hand Surg Eur. 2008; 33: 358-362
- Posttraumatic stress disorder and depression negatively impact general health status after hand injury.J Hand Surg Am. 2009; 34: 515-522
- The common sense model of illness danger.in: Medical Psychology. 2. Pergamon, New York, NY2003: 7-30
- A meta-analytic review of the common sense model of illness representations.Psychol Health. 2003; 18: 141-184
- Illness representation, coping, and outcome in irritable bowel syndrome (IBS).Br J Health Psychol. 2002; 7: 377-391
- The role of patients' illness representations in coping and functioning with Addison's disease.Br J Health Psychol. 1999; 4: 137-149
- Illness perceptions, coping styles and psychological distress in adults with Huntington's disease.Psychol Health Med. 2014; 19: 169-179
- Illness perceptions within 6 months of cancer diagnosis are an independent perspective predictor of health-related quality of life 15 months post-diagnosis.Psychooncology. 2015; 24: 1463-1470
- Illness perceptions of low back pain patient in primary care: what are they, do they change and are they associated with outcome?.Pain. 2008; 136: 177-187
- Predictors of health-related quality of life 3 months after traumatic injury.J Nurs Scholarsh. 2008; 40: 83-90
- Thinking positively about chronic illness: an exploration of optimism, illness perceptions and well-being in patients with Parkinson's disease.Br J Health Psychol. 2014; 19: 363-379
- Optimism and adaptation to chronic disease: the role of optimism in relation to self-care options of type 1 diabetes mellitus, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.Br J Health Psychol. 2002; 7: 409-432
- Trauma-related distress and mood disorders in the early stage of an acute traumatic hand injury.J Hand Surg Eur Vol. 2003; 28: 332-338
- Problems experienced during the first year of an acute traumatic hand injury—a prospective study.J Clin Nurs. 2004; 13: 986-995
- Psychological adjustment following work-related hand injury: 18-month follow-up.Ann Plast Surg. 1992; 29: 537-542
- SF-36 Health Survey: Manual and Interpretation Guide.The Health Institute, New England Medical Centre, Boston, MA1993
- Psychological perspective on hand injury and pain.J Hand Ther. 2010; 23: 199-210
- Statistical power analyses using G*Power 3.1: tests for correlation and regression analyses.Behav Res Methods. 2009; 41: 1149-1160
- The Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R).Psychol Health. 2002; 17: 1-16
- Associations between illness perceptions and health-related quality of life in adults with cystic fibrosis.J Psychosom Res. 2011; 70: 161-167
- The impact of event scale—revised.in: Wilson J.P. Keane T.M. Assessing Psychological Trauma and PTSD. Guilford Press, New York, NY1997: 399-411
- Impact of Events Scale: a measure of subjective stress.Psychosom Med. 1979; 41: 209-218
- The Impact of Event Scale—revised: psychometric properties in a sample of motor vehicle accident survivors.J Anxiety Disord. 2008; 22: 187-198
- The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure.J Gen Intern Med. 2001; 16: 606-613
- Psychometric comparison of PHQ-9 and HADS for measuring depression severity in primary care.Br J Gen Pract. 2008; 58: 32-36
- Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders.(4th ed., text rev.). American Psychiatric Association, Washington, DC2000
- You want to measure coping but your protocol's too long: consider the Brief COPE.Int J Behav Med. 1997; 4: 92-100
- Reliability and validity of the Brief COPE Scale (English version) among women with breast cancer undergoing treatment of adjuvant chemotherapy: a Malaysian study.Med J Malaysia. 2010; 65: 41-44
- Validity and reliability of the Brief COPE in carers of people with dementia.J Nerv Ment Dis. 2008; 196: 838-843
- Development of QuickDASH: comparison of three item-reduction approaches.J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2005; 87: 1038-1046
- Development of an upper extremity outcome measure: the DASH (disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand). The Upper Extremity Collaborative Group (UECG).Am J Ind Med. 1996; 29: 602-608
- How sharp is the QuickDASH? A refined content and validity analysis of the short form of the disabilities of the shoulder, arm and hand questionnaire in the strata of symptoms and function and specific joint conditions.Qual Life Res. 2009; 18: 1043-1051
- The SF-36 health survey: a valid measure of changes in health status after injury.Inj Prev. 1996; 2: 135-139
- Outcome and clinical changes in patients 3, 6, 12 months after a severe hand injury—can sense of coherence be an indicator for rehabilitation focus?.BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2010; 11: 286-297
- Validity and reliability of the SF-36 Health Survey Questionnaire in patients with coronary artery disease.J Clin Epidemiol. 2000; 53: 359-365
- Assessing outcome after hand surgery: the current state.J Hand Surg Br. 2003; 28: 289-294
- Are illness perceptions about coronary artery disease predictive of depression and quality of life outcomes?.J Psychosom Res. 2009; 66: 211-220
- An examination of the effect of six types of error perturbation on fifteen clustering algorithms.Psychometrika. 1980; 45: 325-342
- Cluster analysis in illness perception research: a Monte Carlo study to identify the most appropriate method.Psychol Health. 2007; 22: 123-142
- Do changes in illness perceptions predict changes in psychological distress among oesophageal cancer survivors?.J Health Psychol. 2011; 16: 500-509
- Change in psychological distress in longer-term oesophageal cancer carers: are clusters of illness perception change a useful determinant?.Psychooncology. 2016; 25: 663-669
- The relationship between hand function, depression, and the psychological impact of trauma in patients with traumatic hand injury.Int J Rehabil Res. 2014; 37: 105-109
- Coping, quality of life, depression, and hopelessness in cancer patients in a curative and palliative, end-of-life care setting.Cancer Nurs. 2011; 34: 302-314
- Coping and quality of life of patients following microsurgical treatment for breast cancer–related lymphedema.J Health Psychol. 2016; 21: 2983-2993
- Acceptance and commitment therapy, relational frame theory, and the third wave of behavioural and cognitive therapies.Behav Ther. 2004; 35: 639-665
- Acceptance and commitment therapy and mindfulness for chronic pain: model, process, and progress.Am Psychol. 2014; 69: 178-187
- Improving diabetes self-management through acceptance, mindfulness, and values: a randomised controlled trial.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2007; 75: 336-343
- Mindfulness-based therapy for drug-resistant epilepsy. An assessor-blinded randomised trial.Neurology. 2015; 85: 100-1107
- The use of acceptance and commitment therapy to prevent the rehospitalization of psychotic patients: a randomised controlled trial.J Consult Clin Psychol. 2002; 70: 1129-1139
- Acceptance and commitment therapy and yoga for drug-refractory epilepsy: a randomised controlled trial.Epilepsy Behav. 2008; 13: 102-108
- A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of acceptance and commitment therapy for adults with chronic pain: outcome domains, design quality, and efficacy.J Contextual Behav Sci. 2014; 3: 217-227
- Ten year follow-up of health and disability in people with acute traumatic hand injury: pain and cold sensitivity are long-standing problems.J Hand Surg Eur. 2011; 36: 590-598
The British Pain Society. Guidelines for pain management programme for adults: an evidence-based review prepared on behalf of the British Pain Society. 2013. Available at: https://www.britishpainsociety.org/static/uploads/resources/files/pmp2013_main_FINAL_v6.pdf. Accessed June 28, 2017.
JHT Read for Credit
Quiz: #574
Record your answers on the Return Answer Form found on the tear-out coupon at the back of this issue or to complete online and use a credit card, go to JHTReadforCredit.com. There is only one best answer for each question.
- #1.Data for this cross sectional survey was mined from
- a.chart reviews
- b.patient interviews
- c.patient questionnaires
- d.therapists questionnaires
- a.
- #2.Adjustment was considered
- a.as a holistic concept
- b.on the basis of hand function
- c.on the basis of its emotional impact
- d.from a WHO definition
- a.
- #3.There were __________ participants/subjects
- a.105
- b.45
- c.25
- d.65
- a.
- #4.Due to the study design
- a.the results cannot be applied across national/state borders
- b.it requires a PhD to fully comprehend the results
- c.no cause and effect could be determined
- d.the results are useful to hand therapists, but not hand surgeons
- a.
- #5.Medical and demographic factors were shown to be the primary factors affecting adjustment
- a.true
- b.false
- a.
When submitting to the HTCC for re-certification, please batch your JHT RFC certificates in groups of 3 or more to get full credit.
Article info
Publication history
Published online: July 03, 2017
Accepted:
May 26,
2017
Received in revised form:
May 26,
2017
Received:
September 29,
2016
Identification
Copyright
© 2017 Hanley & Belfus, an imprint of Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
