Learning about patients’ stress coping strategies could help health care professionals properly diagnose and treat some conditions, said researchers in the November issue of the Journal of Periodontology.
Austrian researchers studied the coping behavior of 89 men and women with periodontitis and 63 without periodontitis. Study participants underwent a periodontal examination and took an extensive stress questionnaire to determine their coping behavior.
Researchers found that subjects with periodontal disease were less likely to use active coping strategies, such as situation control, than those in the control group. These subjects also were more likely to cope with stress situations by averting blame.
In addition, the study found that patients with defensive coping skills are more likely to refuse all responsibility and downplay their conditions compared with others. This can make it difficult for health care professionals to determine the severity of the condition, and it can inhibit their ability to counsel patients on possible prevention methods.
"Should these results be confirmed, they would constitute an important means of enhancing the patient’s compliance during medical examinations and treatment," said lead author Dr. Gernot Wimmer of Karl Franzens University of Graz, Austria. "In such cases, care should be taken to ensure that patients receive information in such a way that it does not cause them to become defensive, and that proper access to the disease is established."
"Either consciously or unconsciously," he continued, "individuals use coping measures as a response to stress, in order to reduce its intensity or to overcome stress altogether. Thus, the individual’s concept of stress coping appears to be particularly an important determinant of the general tenor on his or her health."
