Illness uncertainty, social support, and coping mode in hospitalized patients with systemic lupus erythematosus in a hospital in Shaanxi, China

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the relationships between illness uncertainty, social support, and coping mode in hospitalized patients with systematic lupus erythematosus (SLE). METHODS: The General Health Questionnaire, Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, Social Support Rating Scale, and Medical Coping Modes Questionnaire were to the hospitalized patients with SLE (N = 200) in a tertiary hospital in Shaanxi. RESULTS: The hospitalized patients with SLE showed a moderate level of illness uncertainty. Furthermore, illness uncertainty was negatively correlated with support availability (r = -0.161, P = 0.023) and facing coping mode (r = -0.231, P = 0.001), and was positively correlated with the yielding coping mode (r = 0.249, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest that support availability and coping modes were associated with moderate level of illness uncertainty, indicating that support availability support should be strengthened in hospitalized patients to actively face their disease. This subsequently improves their treatment compliance and quality of life.