The Impact of Illness Threat Perception on Treatment Adherence in Patients with Chronic Diseases: The Sequential Mediating Role of Depression and Attitudes Toward Medical Care

Objective To explore the impact of illness threat perception on treatment adherence among patients with chronic diseases and the mediating roles of depressive symptoms and attitudes toward seeking medical care between the two. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was adopted, and 381 patients with chronic diseases were selected from Panyu Central Hospital Affiliated to Guangzhou Medical University through convenience sampling from February to September 2024. A self-designed demographic questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Brief Attitudes Toward Seeking Medical Care Questionnaire, the Patient Health Questionnaire Depression Scale, and the Chinese version of the Patient Adherence Scale were used for the survey. IBM SPSS 26.0 software was used for statistical description and Spearman correlation analysis, ...