Abstract
Background
What people believe about their illness may affect how they cope with it. It has been suggested that such beliefs stem from those commonly held within society. This study compared the beliefs held by people with angina, regarding causation and coping in angina, with the beliefs of their friends who do not suffer from angina.Methods
Postal survey using the York Angina Beliefs Questionnaire (version 1), which elicits stress attributions and misconceived beliefs about causation and coping. This was administered to 164 people with angina and their non-cohabiting friends matched for age and sex. 132 people with angina and 94 friends completed the questionnaire.Results
Peers are more likely than people with angina to believe that angina is caused by a worn out heart (p Conclusions
The beliefs of the peer group about causation and coping in angina run counter to professional advice. Over time this may contribute to a reduction in patient concordance with risk factor reduction, and may help to create cardiac invalids.