Are Illness Perceptions Associated With Disease Activity or Psychological Well-Being in Rheumatoid Arthritis? A Study With the Evidence of Confirmatory Factor Analysis
Yasemin ULUS1, Berna TANDER1, Yeşim AKYOL1, Yüksel TERZİ2, Yeliz ZAHİROĞLU1, Gökhan SARISOY3, Ayhan BİLGİCİ1, Ömer KURU1
1Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical Faculty of Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey
2Department of Statistics, Ondokuz Mayıs University, Faculty of Science and Arts, Samsun, Turkey
3Department of Psychiatry, Medical Faculty of Ondokuz Mayıs University, Samsun, Turkey
Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; depression; disease activity; illness perceptions; rheumatoid arthritis
Abstract
Objectives: This study aims to assess the factor structure of the Turkish Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and the relationship of illness perceptions with disease activity and psychological well-being.
Patients and methods: One hundred and fifty RA patients (8 males, 142 females; mean age 51.1±12.7 years; range 21 to 81 years) were included in the study. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factor structure of the IPQ-R. Pain was assessed by visual analog scale, disease activity by Disease Activity Score 28, depression by Beck Depression Inventory, global life satisfaction by the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and illness perception by the IPQ-R.
Results: Three items (items 12, 18, 19) were deleted because of poor factor loadings. The modified 35-item model showed good reliability and discriminant validity. Beck Depression Inventory scores were correlated with identity, consequences, and emotional representations subscales positively (p<0.001); and with illness coherence subscale negatively (p<0.05). There were positive correlations between Satisfaction with Life Scale scores, and treatment control and illness coherence subscales (p<0.05). Satisfaction with Life Scale scores were negatively correlated with identity, emotional representation, and timeline acute/chronic subscales (p<0.05), and consequences subscale (p<0.001). Disease Activity Score 28 was not correlated with IPQ-R domains (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The Turkish IPQ-R appears to be a useful clinical assessment tool to evaluate RA-related illness perceptions. RA healthcare should include psychological intervention to strengthen patients’ beliefs about their RA regardless of disease activity.
The authors declared no conflicts of interest with respect to the authorship and/or publication of this article.
The authors received no financial support for the research and/or authorship of this article.