BACKGROUND Illness perception is composed of thoughts, ideas, and beliefs about illness, and a negative illness perception is known to be associated with poor outcomes. Among men and women, clinical outcomes after heart valve surgery are known to differ, but knowledge about differences in illness perception is sparse. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study is to describe the differences in illness perception among men and women after open heart valve surgery and to identify sociodemographic and clinical characteristics associated with worse illness perception in men and women. METHODS In a national cross-sectional study combined with register-based clinical and sociodemographic information, data on illness perception were collected with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire.Worse illness perception was defined as the worst quartile of each item of the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Multiple logistic regression analyses were conducted to explore characteristics associated with worse illness perception. RESULTS Of 1084 eligible patients, 32% (n = 349) completed the questionnaire (67% men; mean age, 68 years). Compared with men, women reported significantly worse scores of illness perception in 6 of 8 items. Furthermore, being female, age, length of stay, and comorbidity were associated with worse illness perception (worse quartile of scores). Age, higher educational level, and comorbidity were found to be associated with worse illness perception for men and length of stay for women. CONCLUSION After open heart valve surgery, illness perception differs among men and women, with women having worse illness perception. Among the total population, being female, age, a longer length of stay, and comorbidity were also associated with worse illness perception.

中文翻译：

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心脏瓣膜手术后的疾病认知：男性和女性之间的差异。

背景疾病感知由关于疾病的想法、想法和信念组成，并且已知负面的疾病感知与不良结果相关。在男性和女性中，已知心脏瓣膜手术后的临床结果存在差异，但关于疾病感知差异的知识却很少。目的 本研究的目的是描述开放心脏瓣膜手术后男性和女性对疾病感知的差异，并确定与男性和女性疾病感知较差相关的社会人口统计学和临床​​特征。方法 在一项全国性的横断面研究中，结合基于登记的临床和社会人口学信息，通过简要疾病感知问卷收集疾病感知数据。更差的疾病感知被定义为简要疾病感知问卷每个项目中最差的四分位数。进行了多元逻辑回归分析，以探索与疾病感知更差相关的特征。结果 在 1084 名符合条件的患者中，32% (n = 349) 完成了问卷调查（67% 为男性；平均年龄为 68 岁）。与男性相比，女性在 8 项中有 6 项的疾病感知得分明显较差。此外，作为女性，年龄、住院时间和合并症与更差的疾病感知相关（更差的四分位数分数）。年龄、更高的教育水平和合并症被发现与男性更差的疾病感知和女性住院时间有关。结论 心脏瓣膜开放手术后，男性和女性对疾病的认知不同，女性对疾病的认知更差。在总人口中，女性、年龄、住院时间较长和合并症也与较差的疾病感知有关。