Illness Uncertainty Research Articles

Illness Uncertainty and Intrusiveness in Adolescent and Young Adult Women with Self-Reported Chronic Migraines

ABSTRACT Background Chronic migraines result in debilitating pain requiring complex and multifaceted daily management, including acting purposefully to attenuate symptoms and decrease impairment. Experiencing migraines may be more psychologically challenging for adolescent and young adult (AYA) women due to complex and recurrent stressors. Purpose This study examined the relationships between illness specific cognitive appraisal mechanisms (i.e., illness uncertainty and illness intrusiveness) and psychological adjustment (i.e., anxious and depressive symptoms) in AYA women with self-reported chronic migraines. Methods AYA women (N = 74, Mage = 20.19, SD = 3.41) with chronic migraines completed measures of illness uncertainty, illness intrusiveness, anxious, and depressive symptoms. Results Two hierarchical regression analyses indicated that illness uncertainty (B = .44, p < .001) and intrusiveness (B = .27, p = .026) significantly predicted anxious, F(4, 68) = 12.83, p < .001, and depressive symptoms, F(4, 68) = 8.48, p < .001, B = .31, p = .021 and B = .27, p = .037. Discussion Greater illness uncertainty and illness intrusiveness were associated with greater anxious and depressive symptoms. Thus, it may be that AYA women who experience chronic migraines have increased perceptions of ambiguity, unpredictability, and disruption to their life that significantly contribute to their psychological adjustment outcomes. Translation to Health Education Practice This study demonstrates a need for health education on the role of illness related cognitive appraisal mechanisms for AYA women with chronic migraines. A AJHE Self-Study quiz is online for this article via the SHAPE America Online Institute (SAOI)http://portal.shapeamerica.org/trn-Webinars

From existential uncertainty to a new mindset promoting recovery: Exploring the development of uncertainty experience in women with vulvar neoplasia – A qualitative longitudinal study

BackgroundWomen with vulvar neoplasia continue to experience uncertainty up to six months post-surgery. Uncertainty in illness is considered a significant psychosocial stressor, that negatively influences symptom distress, self-management strategies and quality of life. According to the Reconceptualized Uncertainty in Illness Theory, the appraisal of uncertainty changes positively over time in chronic illness. We aimed at exploring whether and how the experience of uncertainty develops in women with vulvar neoplasia.MethodsWe selected a purposive sample of seven women diagnosed with vulvar neoplasia in four Swiss and one Austrian women’s clinic. By means of a qualitative longitudinal study, we conducted 30 individual interviews at five points of time during one year after diagnosis. We applied Saldaña’s analytical questions for longitudinal qualitative research.ResultsFirst, participants experienced uncertainty as an existential threat, then an inherent part of their illness, and finally a certainty. Women initially associated the existential threat with a high risk for suffering from severe health deteriorations. Participants that could reduce their individually assessed risk by adopting health promoting behaviors, accepted the remaining uncertainty. From now on they reframed uncertainty into a certainty. This new mindset was based on a belief of promoting recovery and reducing the risk of recurrence.ConclusionsThe long-lasting and oscillating nature of uncertainty should receive attention in supportive oncology care. Uncertainty concerning existential issues is of special importance since it can inhibit a positive development of uncertainty experience.

Discharge Readiness and Associated Factors Among Patients with Coronary Heart Disease After Stent Implantation: A Cross-Sectional Single Center Study.

The aim of this study is to describe the readiness of hospital discharge of patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) who have undergone coronary stent implantation and explore its influencing factors. This is a cross sectional single center study. Convenient sampling was used to select patients who underwent coronary stent implantation in the Cardiovascular Department of a tertiary hospital in Chengdu from October 2021 to April 2022 as the research subjects. Data were collected using the General Information Questionnaire, which included domains such as uncertainty in illness, the quality of discharge teaching, perceived social support, and health locus of control. The Readiness for Hospital Discharge Scale (RHDS) was used to assess readiness for hospital discharge. Multiple regression adjusted for relevant confounders was used to determine the associations. A total of 276 questionnaires were distributed, and 263 valid questionnaires were collected. The average item score of RHDS is 7.66 ± 1.13. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the influential factors of RHDS of patients who underwent coronary stent implantation included: deliver skill (β = 0.43), marital status (β = 0.12), living alone (β = -0.14), inconsistency (β = -0.22) and household income per capita (β = -0.12) (all P<0.05). The RHDS score of patients with CHD after coronary stent implantation were at a moderate level. Discharge readiness was significantly associated with delivery skill, marital status, living alone, inconsistency of information, and household income per capita. The present study highlights the need for improved educational interventions and tailored discharge planning.

The Influence of Uncertainty in Illness and Coping on Quality of Life in Colorectal Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

The Influence of Uncertainty in Illness and Coping on Quality of Life in Colorectal Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy

Decisional Conflict Regarding Disease-Modifying Treatment Choices Among Patients with Mid-Stage Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis.

Shared decision-making is critical in multiple sclerosis (MS) due to the uncertainty of the disease trajectory over time and the large number of treatment options with differing efficacy, safety and administration characteristics. The aim of this study was to assess patients' decisional conflict regarding the choice of a disease-modifying therapy and its associated factors in patients with mid-stage relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS). A multicenter, non-interventional study was conducted. Adult patients with a diagnosis of RRMS (2017 revised McDonald criteria) and disease duration of 3 to 8 years were included. The level of uncertainty experienced by a patient when faced with making a treatment choice was assessed using the 4-item Decisional Conflict Scale. A battery of patient-reported and clinician-rated measures was administered to obtain information on symptom severity, illness perception, illness-related uncertainty, regret, MS knowledge, risk taking behavior, preferred role in the decision-making process, cognition, and self-management. Patients were recruited during routine follow-up visits and completed all questionnaires online using electronic tablets at the hospital. A multivariate logistic regression analysis was conducted. A total of 201 patients were studied. Mean age (Standard deviation) was 38.7 (8.4) years and 74.1% were female. Median disease duration (Interquartile range) was 6.0 (4.0-7.0) years. Median EDSS score was 1.0 (0-2.0). Sixty-seven (33.3%) patients reported a decisional conflict. These patients had lower MS knowledge and more illness uncertainty, anxiety, depressive symptoms, fatigue, subjective symptom severity, a threatening illness perception, and poorer quality of life than their counterparts. Lack of decisional conflict was associated with MS knowledge (Odds ratio [OR]=1.195, 95% CI 1.045, 1.383, p=0.013), self-management (OR=1.049, 95% CI 1.013, 1.093, p=0.018), and regret after a healthcare decision (OR=0.860, 95% CI 0.756, 0.973, p=0.018) in the multivariate analysis. Decisional conflict regarding the selection of a disease-modifying therapy was a common phenomenon in patients with mid-stage RRMS. Identifying factors associated with decisional conflict may be useful to implement preventive strategies that help patients better understand their condition and strengthen their self-management resources.

Incerteza de mulheres com diagnóstico de câncer de mama: estudo transversal

Abstract Objective to determine the level of uncertainty in women diagnosed with breast cancer and the relationship with sociodemographic variables. Method an observational, cross-sectional and correlational study. The sample included 121 women, selected through intentional and non-probabilistic sampling. The Illness Uncertainty Scale was used. Descriptive analysis used measures of central tendency, frequencies and percentages. Inferential analysis used Pearson’s correlation method, Spearman’s Rho, Fisher’s exact test and a linear regression model. Results 69.4% of women reported a high level of uncertainty. The ambiguity dimension contributed most to this high score (62%). A significant negative correlation was found between the level of uncertainty with the level of education (p=0.03) and monthly income (p=0.004). Conclusions the high level of uncertainty in more than half of the women was related to the level of education and monthly income. Final considerations and implications for practice the level of uncertainty is a present variable that is clearly identified at the beginning of breast cancer treatment. Healthcare professionals, especially nurses, must comprehensively assess women’s needs at this stage, providing care where educational tools and emotional support prevail over techniques and procedures.

Influence of Illness Uncertainty on Health Behavior in Individuals with Coronary Artery Disease: A Path Analysis.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of uncertainty-related factors on the health behavior of individuals with coronary artery disease (CAD) based on Mishel's uncertainty in illness theory (UIT). We conducted a cross-sectional study and path analysis to investigate uncertainty and factors related to health behavior. The study participants were 228 CAD patients who visited the outpatient cardiology department between September 2020 and June 2021. We used SPSS 25.0 and AMOS 25.0 software to analyze the data. The final model demonstrated a good fit with the data. Eleven of the twelve paths were significant. Uncertainty positively affected danger and negatively affected self-efficacy and opportunity. Danger had a positive effect on perceived risk. Opportunity positively affected social support, self-efficacy, perceived benefit and intention, whereas it negatively affected perceived risk. Social support, self-efficacy, perceived benefit and intention had a positive effect on health behavior. We found that perceived benefit and intention had the most significant direct effects, whereas self-efficacy indirectly affected the relationship between uncertainty and health behavior. The path model is suitable for predicting the health behavior of CAD patients who experience uncertainty. When patients experience uncertainty, interventions to increase their self-efficacy are required first. Additionally, we need to develop programs that quickly shift to appraisal uncertainty as an opportunity, increase perceived benefits of health behavior, and improve intentions.

Living with illness uncertainty: nature cure caregiving in Kerala, South India

First promoted in India as part of M.K. Gandhi’s anti-colonial project, nature cure (prakr̥ti jīvanaṁ) draws on the metaphor of vitality to frame the body as having a natural wisdom—a vital force—that works to restore health and balance. In Kerala, South India, patients forge mentorships with nature cure healers to repair their ill bodies, revive the toxic environment, and respond to moral collapse. Based on long-term ethnographic fieldwork, this paper offers a person-centred analysis of one practitioner, Dr Vinod, as he instils trust in two chronically ill patients facing uncertain futures. First, I demonstrate the limits of public categorisations of alternative medicines in India for representing the multiplicity of healers and their care strategies. Despite nature cure being outwardly centred as a mode of self-healing, Dr Vinod does not engage liberal conceptions of autonomy and independence, nor does he solely critique biomedicine. Rather, Dr Vinod attends to patients’ histories and the specific arrangements of kinship, caste, class, and gender shaping their vulnerabilities, to transform feelings of doubt into those of trust amid illness uncertainty. In this way, alternative healers hold the capacity to reconfigure socially embedded lives. Second, to illuminate how naturopathic care tactics reveal the relational dimensions of illness experience, I draw on and expand the work of philosopher Havi Carel. Carel argues that bodily doubt shapes the experience of chronic illness in three ways: loss of faith in one’s body, loss of transparency, and loss of continuity. Engaging with Cheryl Mattingly’s approach to narrative phenomenology, I demonstrate how Dr Vinod moves a step further, asking how articulations of illness and loss are inherently intersubjective. Empathetic to his patients’ social worlds, Dr Vinod gently intervenes in their lives, forging therapeutic ties to support them—all the while outwardly claiming that the locus of healing lies in the self.

Relationship between self-disclosure and anticipatory grief in patients with advanced lung cancer: the mediation role of illness uncertainty.

To study the relationship between self-disclosure, illness uncertainty (IU) and anticipatory grief (AG) in patients with advanced lung cancer. This is a cross-sectional study using convenience sampling method, in which 316 patients with advanced lung cancer who were hospitalized in a tertiary hospital in Wuxi City, China, from November 2022 to April 2023 were sampled. The Preparatory Grief in Advanced Cancer Patients, Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale, and the Distress Disclosure Index Scale (DDI) were selected to analyse the status quo, correlations, and the mediating effect of illness uncertainty on the relationship between self-disclosure and anticipatory grief in advanced lung cancer patients. The total self-disclosure score of advanced lung cancer patients was (36.35 ± 9.25), the total score of IU was (56.92 ± 15.65), and the score of AG was (52.29 ± 9.08); the results of correlation analyses showed that IU was negatively correlated with self-disclosure in advanced lung cancer patients (p < 0.05) and positively correlated with AG (p < 0.05), and self-disclosure was negatively correlated with AG (p < 0.05);the mediating effect rate of IU between self-disclosure and AG in advanced lung cancer patients was 49%. The AG of advanced lung cancer patients was at a medium-high level, and IU had a significant mediating effect between self-disclosure and AG of advanced lung cancer patients; by increasing the level of patients' self-disclosure, IU could be effectively alleviated, and ultimately the AG of the patients could be reduced.

Corrigendum: Resilience and caregiving ability among caregivers of people with stroke: the mediating role of uncertainty in illness

Corrigendum: Resilience and caregiving ability among caregivers of people with stroke: the mediating role of uncertainty in illness

The relationship between uncertainty and acute procedure anxiety among surgical patients in Chinese mainland: the mediating role of resilience

BackgroundSurgery, as one of the main diagnostic and treatment methods, is a routine work in medical settings. Patients undergoing surgery often experience acute procedure anxiety due to uncertainty. There is ample evidence showing that uncertainty is a risk factor for the acute procedure anxiety in surgical patients. However, little is known about the psychological processes mediating this relationship. Therefore, this study aims to evaluate resilience as a mediator of the association between uncertainty and anxiety.MethodsA population-based cross-sectional survey with a convenience sampling method was conducted, involving 243 surgical patients in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province of China was carried out. Relevant data were collected by self-reporting questionnaires, including demographic characteristics questionnaire, Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale (APAIS-C), Mishel’s Illness Uncertainty Scale (MUIS), Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Pearson correlation analysis was employed to examine correlations between various variables. A path model was used to assess the mediation effect of resilience with respect to uncertainty and acute procedure anxiety.ResultsIn the path model, uncertainty have an indirect effect on acute procedure anxiety through resilience. The results suggest that resilience has a mediating role in uncertainty and acute procedure anxiety among surgical patients.ConclusionsThese findings call for the development of interventions targeting the role of resilience in effectively predicting and preventing acute procedure anxiety and uncertainty among surgical patients.

The mediating role of anxiety in disease uncertainty and acute stress in acute ischaemic stroke patients in the post-epidemic era.

To analyse the influencing factors of anxiety, disease uncertainty and acute stress response in patients with acute ischaemic stroke, and to verify the mediating role of anxiety in the post-epidemic era. 240 patients with acute ischaemic stroke were selected from a tertiary hospital in Wuhan City and investigated by questionnaire and convenience sampling methods. The total anxiety score, disease uncertainty and acute stress reaction were at moderate levels. Anxiety was positively correlated with illness uncertainty, and anxiety and acute stress response were negatively correlated. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that Sickness uncertainty, acute stress response, age, and work status influenced anxiety. Anxiety mediated the prediction of Sickness uncertainty and acute stress response, with the mediating effect accounting for 35.6% of the total effect. Disease uncertainty in patients with acute ischaemic stroke in the post-epidemic era directly affects the acute stress response and indirectly through anxiety.

A qualitative exploration of fear of progression in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma treated with proton and heavy ion therapy.

To investigate fear of progression (FOP) in nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) patients treated with proton and heavy ion therapy. Thirty NPC patients were selected for face-to-face semistructured interviews through purposive sampling while using the phenomenological approach in qualitative research. The interviews were transcribed, organized, and analyzed by applying Colaizzi's seven-step analysis. Seven themes were summarized, namely, illness uncertainty, trapped into insecurity (including four categories: insecurity about the possibility of discrimination, insecurity about the possibility of the inability to tolerate the pain of retreatment, insecurity about the difficulty of retreatment after recurrence, and insecurity of waiting for test results), hopelessness, loss, guilt toward children, enhancing tolerance toward family, and self-emotional comfort. We found that women with children and patients who experienced their first episode underwent significant FOP. Patients at the postgraduate level and above were more inclined to feel loss. The finding that respondents expressed is intense FOP while waiting for test results, which provides a reference for the analysis of the trajectory of FOP. Health care professions should be cognitively aware the importance of eliminating patients' uncertainty and insecurity about disease to enhance their positive experience in coping with cancer.

Illness uncertainty and quality of life in patients with advanced cancer and their family caregivers: An actor-partner interdependence model analysis.

The relationship between illness uncertainty and quality of life (QOL) has been examined for either the patient or caregiver, but not among the patient-caregiver dyads. This study examined relationships between illness uncertainty and QOL among patients with advanced cancer and family caregivers. We conducted a secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial that examined the effects of a dyadic-based intervention on psychological outcomes for patients with advanced cancer and family caregivers (N=484 dyads). Illness uncertainty and QOL were measured using the shorten version of the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale for Adult and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy, respectively. The actor-partner interdependence model was used to examine whether an individual's uncertainty (either a patient's or caregiver's) was associated with their own QOL (i.e., an actor effect) and/or their partner's QOL (i.e., a partner effect). Significant actor effects included a negative association between patients' uncertainty and their own QOL (b=-0.422; p<0.001) and a negative association between caregivers' uncertainty and their own QOL (b=-0.408; p<0.001). In terms of partner effects, patients' uncertainty was negatively associated with caregivers' QOL (b=-0.095; p<0.01). No partner effect was found for caregivers, suggesting that caregivers' uncertainty was not related to patients' QOL. Study findings support targeted interventions offered to both patients and their family caregivers to manage their illness uncertainty and improve theirQOL.

Coping strategies as mediators of uncertainty and psychological distress in patients with advanced cancer.

Uncertainty in the context of advanced cancer diagnosis often incurs significant psychological distress. The aims were to evaluate the incidence of psychological distress upon diagnosis of advanced cancer and to analyze whether the relationship between illness uncertainty and psychological distress can be mediated by coping strategies. A multicenter, prospective, cross-sectional study was conducted in 15 medical oncology departments across Spain. Individuals with unresectable advanced cancer completed questionnaires on uncertainty (Michel Uncertainty of Illness Scale, coping strategies (Mental Adjustment to Cancer, M-MAC), and psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory, BSI-18) after the diagnostic and treatment appointment and before beginning systemic cancer treatment. 841 patients eligible for systemic treatment with palliative intent were included between February 2020 and April 2022. A total of 71.7% had clinically significant levels of psychological distress. Univariate analyses identified that the groups with less psychological distress were male (ηp2 =0.016), married (ηp2 =0.006), and had a better performance status (ηp2 =0.007). The most widely used coping strategies were positive attitude and cognitive avoidance. A positive relationship was found between uncertainty, coping strategies, and psychological distress (p<0.05). Participants who responded with anxious preoccupation suffered more helplessness and psychological distress, while those who responded with cognitive avoidance displayed greater positive attitude and lesser psychological distress. Patients with newly diagnosed unresectable advanced cancer frequently experience psychological distress in the face of uncertainty, potentially influenced by coping strategies like cognitive avoidance.

Illness Uncertainty of the Patients with Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms Treated by Coil Embolization.

Illness Uncertainty of the Patients with Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms Treated by Coil Embolization.

Family Caregiver Experiences in the Inpatient and Outpatient Reduced-Intensity Conditioning Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation Settings: A Qualitative Study

Caregivers (ie, family and friends) are essential in providing care and support for patients undergoing hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) and throughout their recovery. Traditionally delivered in the hospital, HCT is being increasingly provided in the outpatient setting, potentially heightening the burden on caregivers. Extensive work has examined the inpatient HCT caregiving experience, yet little is known about how caregiver experiences may differ based on whether the HCT was delivered on an inpatient or outpatient basis, particularly during the acute recovery period post-HCT. This study explored the similarities and differences in caregiver experiences in the inpatient and outpatient settings during the early recovery from reduced-intensity conditioning (RIC) allogeneic HCT. We conducted semistructured interviews (n = 15) with caregivers of adults undergoing RIC allogeneic HCT as either an inpatient (n = 7) or an outpatient (n = 8). We recruited caregivers using purposeful criterion sampling, based on the HCT setting, until thematic saturation occurred. Interview recordings were transcribed and coded through thematic analysis using Dedoose v.9.0. The study analysis was guided by the transactional model of stress and coping and the model of adaptation of family caregivers during the acute phase of BMT. Three themes emerged to describe similar experiences for HCT caregivers regardless of setting: (1) caregivers reported feeling like they were a necessary yet invisible part of the care team; (2) caregivers described learning to adapt to changing situations and varying patient needs; and (3) caregivers recounted how the uncertainty following HCT felt like existing between life and death while also maintaining a sense of gratitude and hope for the future. Caregivers also reported distinct experiences based on the transplantation setting and 4 themes emerged: (1) disrupted routines: inpatient caregivers reported disrupted routines when caring for the HCT recipient while simultaneously trying to manage non-caregiving responsibilities at home and work, and outpatient caregivers reported having to establish new routines that included frequent clinic visits with the patient while altering or pausing home and work responsibilities; (2) timing of caregiver involvement: inpatient caregivers felt more involved in care after the patient was discharged from the HCT hospitalization, whereas outpatient caregivers were already providing the majority of care earlier in the post-transplantation period; (3) fear of missing vital information: inpatient caregivers worried about missing vital information about the patient's care and progress if not physically present in the hospital, whereas outpatient caregivers feared overlooking vital information that may warrant contacting the care team as they monitored the patient at home; and (4) perceived adequacy of resources to meet psychosocial and practical needs: inpatient caregivers reported having adequate access to resources (ie, hospital-based services), whereas outpatient caregivers felt they had more limited access and needed to be resourceful in seeking out assistance. Inpatient and outpatient HCT caregivers described both similar and distinct experiences during the acute recovery period post-HCT. Specific interventions should address caregiver psychosocial needs (ie, distress, illness uncertainty, communication, and coping) and practical needs (ie, community resource referral, preparedness for home-based caregiving, and transplantation education) of HCT caregivers based on setting.

Investigating the experiences of medical students quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure.

The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly impacted medical education systems worldwide. Between March 2020 and December 2021, 111 MD students at the University of Toronto completed two-week quarantines due to hospital or community exposures and experienced disrupted clinical instruction. We explored the experiences, barriers, and supports of these quarantined medical students to identify program development opportunities and improve student supports. We used a qualitative descriptive approach to explore experiences of clerkship students quarantined due to COVID-19 exposure. Methods included an online survey with open-ended questions and an audio-recorded interview. We analysed the demographic survey responses using descriptive statistics. Subsequently, we conducted descriptive thematic analysis of the narrative survey responses and transcribed interview recordings. Concerns reported in surveys (n = 23, response rate 20.7%) and interviews (n = 5) included themes of illness uncertainty, racial tensions, confidentiality of COVID-19 status, unclear academic expectations, and financial burden. Supports included friends, family, and MD program administration. Recommendations related to communication, administration, equity considerations, supports, confidentiality/privacy, and academics. Supporting student wellbeing and learning is at the core of medical training. Enhanced understanding of health profession trainee needs during COVID can improve institutional supportive responses to students routinely and during times of crisis.

Further examination of the support quandary hypothesis: a weekly diary study of how uncertainty both motivates and challenges supporting close others with mental illness

Abstract This study further examines a difficult experience for support providers in close relationships that we are calling the social support quandary hypothesis: Mental illness uncertainty simultaneously increases fear/anxiety and decreases supportive communication efficacy. In turn, fear/anxiety motivates support provision, but supportive communication efficacy is needed to provide support and for support to be of quality. Undergraduate students (N = 201) completed weekly online surveys. Broadly, findings at both within-person and between-person levels supported the mediating role of fear/anxiety and supportive communication efficacy in the relationship between mental illness uncertainty and quantity of emotional support provision and between mental illness uncertainty and social support quality. Information quality issues interacted with mental illness uncertainty at the within-person level, and the nature of the interactions differed by support outcome. We discuss this study’s theoretical and practical implications for understanding support provision in the context of chronic illnesses, such as mental illness.

Illness Uncertainty of the Patients With Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms Treated by Coil Embolization.

BACKGROUND: Patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) treated by coil embolization may experience illness uncertainty despite successful treatment. This study aimed to investigate illness uncertainty in patients with UIAs treated by coil embolization and to identify the factors affecting illness uncertainty. METHODS: This cross-sectional study involved data collected from 267 patients with UIAs who received coil embolization within 2 years at a tertiary hospital in South Korea. The data were collected through structured questionnaires and the patients' medical records. The questionnaires included information on sociodemographic characteristics, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, and Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale data. We collected clinical characteristics through the medical records. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, an independent t test, a 1-way analysis of variance, and a Pearson correlation test. We used a multiple linear regression analysis with significant variables in the univariate analysis to determine which variables had a significant impact on illness uncertainty. RESULTS: The mean Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale score was 52.33 (12.93). We identified age ( P = .002), education level (high school graduation, P = .014; college or higher, P < .001), anxiety ( P < .001), and social support ( P < .001) as factors affecting illness uncertainty. CONCLUSION: Patients with UIAs who underwent coil embolization did not exhibit severe illness uncertainty. The factors affecting illness uncertainty were age, educational level, anxiety, and social support. This study provides insight into illness uncertainty in this patient population and may help develop appropriate nursing interventions.