When people fall prey to a chronic disease they develop their own formulations about the disease. Patients often hold a variety of beliefs about causes, consequences, control and outcomes of the disease. This study examines illness beliefs and health seeking behaviour of educated, uneducated, rural and urban women suffering from the cancer of cervix. A control group (of non–patients) was also studied. The findings revealed that individual and psychosocial causes were more strongly represented in the belief system of patients than environmental or supernatural causes. The perceived consequence of illness was negatively correlated with the degree of social support available to patients. Patients characterised by a high level of social support strongly believed that their disease was in control of either “self ” or “doctor”. They resorted more to “approach–coping” strategy, experienced lesser pain and severity of illness, and expressed greater hope for a disease free life than patients characterised by low social support.
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