Psychology and Health August 2006; 21(4): 421–430 Illness perceptions predict reassurance following a negative exercise stress testing result LIESJE DONKIN 1 , CHRISTOPHER J. ELLIS 2 , RACHAEL POWELL 1 , ELIZABETH BROADBENT 1 , GREG GAMBLE 2 , & KEITH J. PETRIE 1 1 Department of Psychological Medicine and 2 Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand (Received 26 January 2005; in final form 25 August 2005) Abstract Many patients are not reassured after receiving normal results following cardiac investigations. While previous studies have shown anxiety to be a contributing factor, little research has investigated the influence of patients’ illness perceptions on reassur- ance. In this study we investigated whether illness perceptions predicted patients’ reassur- ance following normal exercise stress test results. Sixty-two chest pain patients without prior diagnosed cardiac pathology completed questionnaires assessing anxiety and illness perceptions prior to exercise stress testing. Patients completed a reassurance questionnaire immediately following their appointment and again one month later. Illness perceptions (consequences, timeline, identity, illness concern, and emotional effect) but not anxiety, significantly predicted reassurance immediately following testing. We found both state anxiety and illness perceptions to predict reassurance one month later. After controlling for anxiety, longer timeline and lower treatment control beliefs predicted lower reassurance. The results suggest that an intervention targeting patients who have high anxiety and negative illness perceptions prior to testing may improve reassurance and decrease disability and the subsequent use of medical care. Keywords: Reassurance, illness perceptions, health anxiety, non-cardiac chest pain, exercise stress testing Correspondence: Keith J. Petrie, Department of Psychological Medicine, Faculty of Medical and Health Science, The University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, New Zealand. E-mail: kj.petrie@auckland.ac.nz ISSN 0887-0446 print/ISSN 1476-8321 online ß 2006 Taylor & Francis DOI: 10.1080/14768320500329292