PATIENTS’ SELF-PERCEPTION, ATTITUDES AND AWARENESS OF HEALTH RISK FACTORS (PATIENTS’ JUDGMENT OF RISKS)
PATIENTS’ SELF-PERCEPTION, ATTITUDES AND AWARENESS OF HEALTH RISK FACTORS (PATIENTS’ JUDGMENT OF RISKS)

Summary/Abstract: The construction of risk perception is important, because perception has a great inertia, and it shapes the attitudes and the human behavior. Ill people are more vulnerable and susceptible than healthy people, their coping and resilience strategies being jeopardized by emotional determinants. Methods. An anonymous questionnaire including items about the reason/ reasons for hospital admission, diagnosis at admission, and questions with multiple-choices answers trying to detect patients’ perception on their health and the awareness of risk factors conditioning the health status was used on 200 patients hospitalized in three clinics: Infectious Diseases, Occupational Medicine and Medical Clinic.Results. Demographic and socio-economic structure of patients differ form one clinic to another. Although among the first three sources of information frequently accessed, internet is on the last place when it comes on confidence. Most trustful are doctors, then TV and friends, the least trustful being radio, magazines and internet. Patients’ attitudes and awareness of health risk factors reflect their knowledge and a discrepancy between attitudes and behavior. Many of presented results in ill people are similar to healthy people, but in terms of disease perceived risk, patients are much more influenced by their level of knowledge and socio-economic level, and other unconscient motivational factors, conducting to an underestimation of risk.Conclusions. Patients’ health education in hospitals is important, but Romania nowadays is confronting a severe shortage of medical staff, so further and refined research is needed to better and fully understand the factors underlying risk perception in ill people.

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