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Attitude of hemophilic adult individuals towards their disease

Abstract:

The mental health of hemophilic individuals and their families play an important role on the integral treatment of the disease. The knowledge of the beliefs and attitudes perceived by the patients toward their disease will make possible a positive influence in their clinical improvement, their response to the treatment, as well as their quality of life. On the basis of the Azjen and Fishbein's Theory of Reasoned Action, a questionnaire was applied to 43 adult hemophilics to determine the salient beliefs about their disease. These beliefs permitted to elaborate a main structured questionnaire named Attitude Model in Patients with Hemophilia (Modelo de Actitud en Pacientes con Hemofilia, MAPACHE, in Spanish), which was administered to the individuals and thus, the attitude toward their disease was obtained. Seventy two percent (72%) gave a major importance to the clinical aspects of the disease (hemorrhage, joint discomfort and trauma), 40% knew the general concepts of hemophilia (hebkp_redity, care and seriousness of the disease), 20% mentioned the implications of the psychosocial factors and only 18% had knowledge concerning the coagulation factors deficiency and the appropriate treatment. The MAPAGHE showed a slightly positive score attitude (4,44 ± 1, 12 SEM) towards the disease in the majority of the groups (74.5%); with 26% of the hemophilics with a negative attitude. There were no significant differences between attitude and clinical parameters. It is recommended that a multidisciplinary team of caregivers should focus their efforts toward education and preventive measures in order to avoid the complications and consequences of the disease, to make possible a better quality of life in individuals with hemophilia.