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Research on elders' health behavior has largely ignored the stage between experiencing a bodily change and defining it as an illness. This paper addresses the question of what explains such definitions of bodily complaints as illness symptoms. The issue is examined in a longitudinal study with a random sample of 350 community dwelling persons aged 65 and over. Multiple regression was used to analyze the effects of external stresses, psychological factors and health attitudes as well as contextual variables, on three types of illness representations. These consisted of giving the bodily changes an illness label, initiating contact with a physician, and/or using some form of self care. These illness representations were treated as outcome variables singularly and in combination. The findings revealed that the overall frequency of a person's bodily changes was the best predictor of an illness designation. Other significant predictors at Time 4 of the study included belief in the seriousness of a complaint, the occurrence of prior illness representations and self-assessed health. This research study on the elderly is unique in that it seeks to explain, within a longitudinal design, the intermediate step between the experience of a bodily change and the definition of the change as an illness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although most older adults report one or more symptoms of a chronic health problem, little attention has been paid to the report of these symptoms over time and whether different symptom patterns affect well-being and symptom management in community-dwelling elders. Therefore, this study examined whether community-dwelling older adults in Ohio, U.S.A. who experience consistently recurring (a) arthritis or (b) cardiopulmonary symptoms report more depression and worse self-assessed health and show more symptom management than those who report inconsistent symptoms and if there are differences in well-being and symptom management over time. This secondary analysis used longitudinal data collected from a random sample of 387 older adults who reported their health complaints in four interviews over 27 months time. Subjects were included in this analysis if they reported either arthritis (n = 321) or cardiopulmonary (n = 232) symptoms at one or more times during 27 months, and then were classified as having either consistent (occurring at all four time points) or intermittent/inconsistent (occurring at three or fewer time points) symptoms. Data analysis included t-tests, chi-square tests, and Repeated Measures ANOVA. Results indicate that those with consistent symptoms reported greater depression and worse self-assessed health than those with less consistent symptoms. Specifically, those with consistent cardiopulmonary symptoms became more depressed over time. Those with consistent cardiopulmonary complaints were more likely than those with an inconsistent pattern to use an illness label to describe their symptoms. Those with consistent arthritis symptoms tended to use more self-care at all time points, to label their symptoms as an illness, and were more likely to consult a physician as their symptoms persisted. The implications of symptom recurrence on well-being, symptom management and the concept chronicity are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]