Subjective health and its predictors in leukaemia patients after bone marrow transplantation

Introduction:
The aims of the study were to assess subjective health and its psychological predictors in leukaemia patients after bone marrow transplantation (BMT). The theoretical rationale of the study was the functional model of health (FMH).

Material and methods:
Participants in the study comprised 141 patients after BMT (61 women, 80 men) in the age range between 20 and 40 years, most of whom had secondary education. A standardized interview and 10-point rating scales of sense of health and sense of calmness were used to assess the subjective health. Their objective health was rated likewise on a 10-point scale by a physician-haematologist. The following questionnaires were used: CISS, SES, SOC-29, and STAI.

Results:
The bone marrow transplantation patients’ sense of health was significantly lower than their objective health status assessed using objective medical parameters (respective means: 6.69, SD = 2.52, and 7.70, SD = 2.09, t = –4.59, df = 139, p < 0.001). According to the FMH as the study rationale, the patients’ subjective health depends on the effectiveness of their coping with illness, but also of personal resources including positive self- esteem and sense of coherence.

Conclusions:
The subjective health of BMT patients was predicted by their objective health status (0.413) and by experienced stress (–0.285) counterbalanced by a strong sense of meaningfulness (0.244). Contemporary medicine can save leukaemia patients’ lives owing to the BMT, the recovery of their subjective health as a foundation of good functioning, which depends on psychological mechanisms, patient`s activity, and a supportive psychologist.