Cure8 research brief
Illness perceptions and perceived ability to understand health information are linked to self-care in IBD. If worse illness perceptions tend to lead to later increases in perceived difficulty understanding written information, addressing psychological and communication needs could help patients engage with care.
Adults with IBD (Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis), IBD clinicians and multidisciplinary teams, psychosocial researchers, and caregivers/parents supporting people with IBD.
This study followed 455 people with IBD across nine Italian specialist centres, with assessments at baseline, 6 and 12 months using the Single Item Literacy Screener (SILS) for perceived functional health literacy and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) for illness perceptions.
The main analytic approach separated within-person change from stable between-person differences (a Bayesian random-intercept cross-lagged panel model).
Results suggested an asymmetric, within-person relationship: when an individual’s illness perceptions worsened, they were more likely to report increased difficulty understanding written health information at the next assessment; the opposite temporal effect did not reach credibility.
Findings are based on self-reported questionnaires (SILS and BIPQ) and a Bayesian RI-CLPM separating within- from between-person effects. The cohort was from Italian specialised centres; measures are perceived (not objective) literacy and reflect temporal associations, not definitive causation.
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