PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Ad Kaptein TI - Illness perceptions and medication beliefs: Key determinants of adherence to maintenance medication in chronic asthma DP - 2012 Sep 01 TA - European Respiratory Journal PG - P515 VI - 40 IP - Suppl 56 4099 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P515.short 4100 - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/40/Suppl_56/P515.full SO - Eur Respir J2012 Sep 01; 40 AB - Outcome in asthma is determined not only by pulmonary function or other biomedical characteristics. Illness perceptions and medication beliefs are crucial in predicting outcomes of asthma management. Illness perceptions pertain to patients' subjective beliefs and emotional responses to their asthma. Medication beliefs tap idiosyncratic views on (asthma) medication. Both influence coping and thereby outcome.I'll review recent studies on this topic, with a range of respondents and careproviders, with patients with varying degree of asthma severity and in different settings of medical care. Examples of how to assess illness perceptions and medication beliefs will be presented and discussed.All studies report substantial effects of illness perceptions and medication beliefs on various categories of outcomes. These findings emphasize the clinical relevance of addressing patients' beliefs about their illness and its medical management, and suggest that this may improve outcome of asthma care. Examples of recent high-quality intervention studies on this topic will be presented, with a view to how to improve quality of care, and thereby quality of life of patients with asthma. In the era of shared decision making and patient empowerment it appears that addressing and incorporating illness perceptions and medication beliefs into regular clinical care is a must.Prof. Ad Kaptein, a.a.kaptein@lumc.nl<SMALL>LUMC</SMALL>. <SMALL>1</SMALL>Medical Psychology, Leiden University Medical Centre, Leiden, Netherlands.