Use and effectiveness of psychological self-care strategies for interstitial cystitis

Abstract

We explore two questions. First, What psychological self-care strategies do women use to manage interstitial cystitis (IC), and how effective are they? Second, How do self-reported cognitive-behavioral and stress reduction activities compare with the coping options hypothesized by Draucker (1991) to be available to women diagnosed with IC? One hundred thirty-eight women with IC rated the use and effectiveness of 53 psychological self-care strategies as well as levels of uncertainty related to the illness. Findings indicated that the women used a wide variety of psychological self-care strategies, including information seeking, self-validation, rejection of pathologizing psychological explanations, and downward comparison to provide perspective. Even after diagnosis, most of the women experienced considerable uncertainty regarding changing symptoms and ability to predict and plan. Use and effectiveness of most psychological strategies appeared to be more strongly related to being involved in a support group, than to current status of the illness.