A comparison of the illness perceptions of North Indian and white British women

Background: Treatment seeking by South Asians for depression has been shown to be lower than for white British people.

Aims: This study compared illness perceptions about depression and the help-seeking behaviour of white British (n = 70) and North Indian women (n = 70) living in the UK. Previous studies have used interviews to elicit illness perceptions but have been time-consuming. The shorter Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ) was used instead.

Method: A cross-sectional survey design was used. Participants were asked to evaluate problems of a vignette character using the BIPQ.

Results: Compared with the British group, Indian participants believed treatment would be less beneficial; felt they had less of an understanding of the character's difficulties and that the character's difficulties had less of an effect on her emotionally. Significantly fewer of the Indian sample suggested the character should go to her general practitioner (GP). Consistent with previous findings, Indian women reported themselves to be feeling more distressed when compared with British women. No differences in perceived causes of the vignette character's difficulties were found between the groups which is slightly discrepant with previous studies.

Conclusions: Ethnic differences were found in illness perceptions which could help explain the lower rate of GP consultation amongst Indian women.