THURSDAY, June 25, 2026 (HealthDay News) -- For patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), there is a significant negative correlation between illness perception and self-management behavior, according to a study published online June 16 in Scientific Reports.
Ronghua Wang, from The First Affiliated Hospital of Chongqing Medical University in China, and colleagues examined the mediating role of health anxiety in the relationship between illness perception and self-management behavior in a study involving 326 patients with IBD enrolled between June 2023 and June 2025.
The researchers found that the mean Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), the Short Health Anxiety Inventory (SHAI), and the IBD Self-Management Behavior Scale scores were 47.31, 28.89, and 67.79, respectively. Patients older than 60 years and those with a disease duration of more than five years had significantly lower self-management scores, while higher scores were seen for patients with a monthly income >5,000 yuan. There was a negative correlation for BIPQ scores with self-management behavior and a positive correlation with SHAI scores. A negative correlation was seen for SHAI scores with self-management behavior. BIPQ scores had a direct negative association with self-management behavior and an indirect association mediated through health anxiety (accounting for 82.69 and 17.31 percent of the total effect, respectively).
"Attention to patients' illness perceptions and health-related anxiety may be promising targets for improving self-management behaviors in individuals with IBD," the authors write.
