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Body Consciousness, Illness-Related Impairment, And Patient Adherence In Hemodialysis, Alan Christensen, John Wiebe, Dawn Edwards, John Michels

Alan J. Christensen

Recent theory and evidence suggests that bodily self-focusing tendencies (e.g., private body consciousness [PBC]) may be associated with medical regimen adherence among chronically ill patients. The present study examined the joint effects of PBC and degree of illness-related physical impairment on treatment regimen adherence in a sample of 52 hemodialysis patients. It was predicted that the effect of PBC on adherence would vary as a function of patients' level of illness-related physical impairment. For patients experiencing more severe impairment, higher PBC scores were associated with poorer adherence to the prescribed medication and dietary regimen. In contrast, for patients experiencing a …