Posted by Bob Johnson (12.19.49.2) on October 23, 2000 at 14:20:31:
An article from the journal, HEADACHE.
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Title: Patient Perception Affects Headache-related Disability
Patients with confidence in their ability to prevent or manage their own headaches have better coping strategies and less anxiety. Their confidence is related to the degree of headache-related disability they experience.
Self-efficacy, which refers to patient confidence, can affect a person's ability to adapt to persistent and painful headaches.
Cognitive, affective and physiological responses to headache episodes may be influenced by a patient's self-efficacy, according to social cognitive theory. Self-efficacy may also affect a patient's ability to start and maintain any efforts to prevent headaches.
In a study published in Headache, researchers used the Headache Management Self-Efficacy Scale to measure self-efficacy and to evaluate its relationship to headache-related disability.
Self-efficacy was assessed in 329 patients with benign headache disorders. Headache-specific locus of control, coping abilities, psychological distress and headache-related disability were also evaluated. Four weeks of daily headache recordings were taken in 262 of the patients.
Results showed that those patients with confidence that they could prevent or manage headaches also perceived a degree of control over the factors that contribute to their headaches.
Higher self-efficacy scores were related to better coping strategies and to lower anxiety.
Self-efficacy, along with headache severity and locus-of-control beliefs, were found to be variables affecting headache-related disability.