Abstract
The review study deals firstly with the more general notion of meaning of life, then with the narrower meaning of the notion of illness for patients. It reminds that the investigation is carried out from the point of view of sociology of medicine, social psychology and psychology of illness.
Examples from foreign research bring nearer qualitative approaches of exploring the meaning of illness for patients (semi-structured interviews, choice of cards, narratives). The last part of the study is devoted to a quantitative approach and provides a survey of six most common questionnaire methods.
In conclusion, the study reminds that knowledge of the meaning attached to the illness by the patient may help to individualize health care, especially in patients with chronic and life-threatening diseases.