PreventDisease.com - Patient Expectations May Influence Recovery



		Patient Expectations May Influence Recovery Excerpt By Charnicia E. Huggins, Reuters Health NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Optimism may be good for your health, according to a review of scientific studies on the topic. Patients who had positive expectations about their recuperation usually had a good recovery, researchers report. ``There is scientific evidence that when patients have positive thoughts and expect to recover well, they usually do,'' study author Dr. Donald C. Cole of the Institute for Work and Health in Ontario, Canada, told Reuters Health. ``(This) suggests that physicians should ask their patients about their expectations of recovery,'' he added. Cole and his colleagues reviewed 16 studies published between 1966 and 1998 that addressed the relationship between patient expectations and recovery. The investigators report their findings in a recent issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Results from 15 of the 16 studies showed that when patients had positive expectations about their recovery, they tended to have a better recovery, even when psychological and social factors were taken into consideration. The effect was small in four of the studies, medium in five studies, and large in six studies. The remaining study was experimental rather than observational, the report indicates. The largest effects tended to be found in studies of medical conditions, such as obesity, while smaller effects were more common in studies of psychological conditions such as social phobia. Reasons for the relationship between patient expectations and outcome may be that patients' expectations triggered a physical response or that their expectations conditioned them psychologically to ignore certain symptoms, the authors speculate. Or it may be that the patients' expectations motivated them to achieve better recovery results, they suggest. ``Further research could lead to the development of tools, guidelines (or) methods to help physicians foster more positive recovery expectations in their patients and perhaps target psychological support and education to those patients who require it,'' Cole concluded. SOURCE: Canadian Medical Association Journal 2001;165:174-179. Reference Source 89 For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use PreventDisease.com's "Quick Prevention Resources".