American Journal of Applied Psychology

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Illness Perception, Religiosity and Mental Health of Diabetic Patients in Ghana

Received: 24 December 2013    Accepted:     Published: 28 February 2014
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Abstract

This study examines the influence of diabetic patients’ perception of their illness and their levels of religiosity on their mental health problems. A sample of 194 diabetic patients was drawn from two major hospitals (Korle-Bu Teaching and Tema General Hospitals) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The cross-sectional survey method was used as the study design. Results from Pearson correlation show that the diabetic patients’ level of religiosity did not significantly correlate with their mental health problems. However, illness perception correlates significantly and positively with their general mental health problem (GSI) and specific ones such as somatization, obsessive-compulsion, depression, anxiety and psychoticism. Multiple regression analyses show that level of general mental health problem (GSI) was significantly predicted by perception of illness Coherence followed by perceptions Symptoms and Concern. Similarly, perception of coherence was the most significant predictor of both depression and anxiety among diabetic patients. The implications of the findings are discussed.

DOI 10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13
Published in American Journal of Applied Psychology (Volume 3, Issue 1, January 2014)
Page(s) 12-20
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Illness Perception, Religiosity, Mental Health, Diabetes, Ghana

References
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Author Information
  • Psychology Department, University of Ghana, Legon, Melbourne

  • Psychology Department, University of Ghana, Legon, Melbourne

  • Psychology Department, University of Ghana, Legon, Melbourne

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  • APA Style

    Kingsley Nyarko, Nuworza Kugbey, Samuel Atindanbila. (2014). Illness Perception, Religiosity and Mental Health of Diabetic Patients in Ghana. American Journal of Applied Psychology, 3(1), 12-20. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13

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    ACS Style

    Kingsley Nyarko; Nuworza Kugbey; Samuel Atindanbila. Illness Perception, Religiosity and Mental Health of Diabetic Patients in Ghana. Am. J. Appl. Psychol. 2014, 3(1), 12-20. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13

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    AMA Style

    Kingsley Nyarko, Nuworza Kugbey, Samuel Atindanbila. Illness Perception, Religiosity and Mental Health of Diabetic Patients in Ghana. Am J Appl Psychol. 2014;3(1):12-20. doi: 10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13,
      author = {Kingsley Nyarko and Nuworza Kugbey and Samuel Atindanbila},
      title = {Illness Perception, Religiosity and Mental Health of Diabetic Patients in Ghana},
      journal = {American Journal of Applied Psychology},
      volume = {3},
      number = {1},
      pages = {12-20},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13},
      eprint = {https://download.sciencepg.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajap.20140301.13},
      abstract = {This study examines the influence of diabetic patients’ perception of their illness and their levels of religiosity on their mental health problems. A sample of 194 diabetic patients was drawn from two major hospitals (Korle-Bu Teaching and Tema General Hospitals) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The cross-sectional survey method was used as the study design. Results from Pearson correlation show that the diabetic patients’ level of religiosity did not significantly correlate with their mental health problems. However, illness perception correlates significantly and positively with their general mental health problem (GSI) and specific ones such as somatization, obsessive-compulsion, depression, anxiety and psychoticism. Multiple regression analyses show that level of general mental health problem (GSI) was significantly predicted by perception of illness Coherence followed by perceptions Symptoms and Concern. Similarly, perception of coherence was the most significant predictor of both depression and anxiety among diabetic patients. The implications of the findings are discussed.},
     year = {2014}
    }
    

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    T1  - Illness Perception, Religiosity and Mental Health of Diabetic Patients in Ghana
    AU  - Kingsley Nyarko
    AU  - Nuworza Kugbey
    AU  - Samuel Atindanbila
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13
    T2  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JF  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
    JO  - American Journal of Applied Psychology
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    EP  - 20
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2328-5672
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajap.20140301.13
    AB  - This study examines the influence of diabetic patients’ perception of their illness and their levels of religiosity on their mental health problems. A sample of 194 diabetic patients was drawn from two major hospitals (Korle-Bu Teaching and Tema General Hospitals) in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana. The cross-sectional survey method was used as the study design. Results from Pearson correlation show that the diabetic patients’ level of religiosity did not significantly correlate with their mental health problems. However, illness perception correlates significantly and positively with their general mental health problem (GSI) and specific ones such as somatization, obsessive-compulsion, depression, anxiety and psychoticism. Multiple regression analyses show that level of general mental health problem (GSI) was significantly predicted by perception of illness Coherence followed by perceptions Symptoms and Concern. Similarly, perception of coherence was the most significant predictor of both depression and anxiety among diabetic patients. The implications of the findings are discussed.
    VL  - 3
    IS  - 1
    ER  - 

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