Coping Measures of Patients with Chronic Illness in a Nigerian Tertiary Health Institution‪.‬

Introduction In Nigeria, chronic illness may be responsible for 24 percent of all deaths in the year 2005 and the situation may become worse by 2015(WHO, 2005). Some of the common chronic illness such as diabetics, heart disease, stroke and type 2 diabetics are preventable through healthy diet, regular physical activity and avoidance of some harmful habits such as tobacco products. The political economy of the Nigerian nation as reflected in the high prevalence of poverty and illiteracy may have further complicated the process of addressing chronic illness. Despite, the structural limitations on patients with chronic illness, they still posses the ability to re-interpret their illness situation (Taylor, 1983; Moses, Ngugi, Bradley, et al, 1994; McKinlay, 1975; Meertens, Scheepers, & Tax, 2003). Illness behaviour creates a useful way of understanding and describing the many psychosocial influences that affect how people monitor their bodies, define and interpret their symptoms, come to view themselves as sick and disabled, take remedial action, and use lay and professional sources of help (Mechanic, 1978).