Chronic illness refers to a health condition that persists over a long duration, generally three months or more, that is typically not cured but managed across time. These conditions often progress gradually, fluctuate in severity, and require sustained medical care, self-management, and lifestyle adaptation. They i…
Chronic illness refers to a health condition that persists over a long duration, generally three months or more, that is typically not cured but managed across time. These conditions often progress gradually, fluctuate in severity, and require sustained medical care, self-management, and lifestyle adaptation. They impose physical, psychological, and social burdens, frequently co-occur as multimorbidity, and disproportionately affect older and vulnerable populations. Common examples include type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney and liver disease, bipolar and other persistent psychiatric disorders, sickle cell disease, persistent pain, and the long-term sequelae of infections. Research in this field addresses self-management and quality of life in diabetes, psychosocial interventions and recovery in bipolar disorder, the health of older people, the mind-body dimension of physical illness, periodic medical check-ups, and care challenges in conditions such as sickle cell disease and persistent pain after transplantation. Effective care emphasizes continuity, coordination across providers, patient education, attention to comorbid mental health, and the social determinants that shape outcomes. Because chronic illnesses account for a large share of disability and healthcare utilization, their management is central to contemporary medicine, aiming to control symptoms, prevent complications, preserve function, and sustain quality of life rather than achieve a definitive cure.
12 peer-reviewed articles, ranked by relevance. Each links to its DOI.
The 12 articles above have been cited 64 times in the scholarly literature. Citation data via OpenAlex and Crossref, updated Jun 2026.
A sample of recent works citing this journal's research on Chronic Illness, linking to each citing work.