Guilt, shame and their associations with chronic diseases in Czech adults

Figures & data

Table 1. Description of the study population

	Total n (%)	Guilt^a n (%)^b	Shame^a n (%)^b
Total	1000 (100)	177 (17.7)	168 (16.8)
Gender
Male	486 (48.6)	83 (8.3)	87 (8.7)
Female	514 (51.4)	94 (9.4)	81 (8.1)
Age
15–29 years old	227 (22.7)	45 (4.5)	36 (3.6)
30–45 years old	283 (28.3)	62 (6.2)	54 (5.4)
46–59 years old	216 (21.6)	35 (3.5)	29 (2.9)
60 and more	274 (27.4)	35 (3.5)	49 (4.9)
Way of life
With somebody (husband/wife, spouse, parents, siblings)	815 (50.0)	136 (13.6)	133 (13.3)
Alone	185 (18.5)	41 (4.1)	35 (3.5)
Highest education achieved
Elementary school	84 (8.4)	17 (1.7)	14 (1.4)
Secondary vocational school	326 (32.6)	60 (6.0)	59 (5.9)
Secondary school with graduation	435 (43.5)	77 (7.7)	69 (6.9)
College	155 (15.5)	23 (2.3)	26 (2.6)
Economic activity
Employee	509 (50.9)	83 (8.3)	82 (8.2)
Self-employed	100 (10.0)	23 (2.3)	23 (2.3)
In the household^c	23 (2.3)	7 (0.7)	5 (0.5)
Unemployed	23 (2.3)	6 (0.6)	5 (0.5)
Student	101 (10.1)	21 (2.1)	13 (1.3)
Disabled	55 (5.5)	10 (1.0)	9 (0.9)
Old-age pensioner	187 (18.7)	27 (2.7)	36 (3.6)
Relation to faith
Believer	277 (27.7)	53 (5.3)	52 (5.2)
Non-believer	563 (56.3)	101 (10.1)	94 (9.4)
Convinced atheist	160 (16.0)	23 (2.3)	22 (2.2)

Note: ᵃ Only the respondents with the occurrence of feelings of guilt or shame are presented.

^bPercentage of the total number of people reporting increased feelings of shame and guilt

^cIncluding maternity leave

Table 2. Prevalence of all chronic diseases and the selected ones in the sample and prevalence of feelings of shame and guilt in total and separately among the respondents with concrete diseases

Disease	Total n (%)	Guilt^a n (%)^b	Shame^a n (%)^b
Healthy	421 (42.1)	62 (14.7)	62 (14.7)
Chronic disease	579 (57.9)	115 (19.9)	106 (18.3)
Arthritis^c	76 (7.6)	16 (21.1)	16 (21.1)
Asthma	73 (7.3)	20 (27.4)	9 (12.3)
Back pain	313 (31.3)	67 (21.4)	64 (20.4)
Cancer	23 (2.3)	8 (34.8)	7 (30.4)
Cardiovascular disease	106 (10.6)	21 (19.8)	23 (21.7)
Depression	72 (7.2)	26 (36.1)	17 (23.6)
Diabetes	128 (12.8)	19 (14.8)	21 (16.4)
Stroke	13 (1.3)	3 (23.1)	4 (30.8)

Note ᵃ Only the respondents with the occurrence of feelings of guilt or shame are presented.

^bPercent of the total number of people reporting increased feelings of shame and guilt

^cParticipants may have more than one chronic disease

Table 3. Associations of physical health with guilt and shame in any chronic disease and in selected chronic diseases: results of multinomial logistic regressions with the healthy respondents being the reference category, adjusted for age, gender and education, leading to odds ratios (OR) with 95% confidence intervals (95%CI)

	Any	Selected chronic diseases
	chronic disease	Arthritis	Asthma	Back pain	Cancer
Feelings of guilt
Yes vs. No	2.00*** (1.37–2.92)	2.88** (1.44–5.76)	2.51** (1.38–4.54)	2.24*** (1.47–3.42)	5.83 *** (2.17–15.69)
Feelings of shame
Yes vs. No	1.29 (0.89–1.89)	1.63 (0.83–3.19)	0.81 (0.38–1.73)	1.49 (0.98–2.28)	2.62 (0.99–6.97)
	Cardiovascular diseases		Depression	Diabetes	Stroke
Feelings of guilt
Yes vs. No	2.71*** (1.46–5.02)		4.39*** (2.43–7.76)	1.69 (0.91–3.16)	3.17 (0.79–12.70)
Feelings of shame
Yes vs. No	1.71 (0.95–3.01)		1.78 (0.96–3.33)	1.12 (0.62–2.05)	2.64 (0.76–9.14)

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01, ***p < 0.001