Are Illness Perceptions Associated With Disease Activity or Psychological Well-Being in Rheumatoid Arthritis? A Study With the Evidence of Confirmatory Factor Analysis

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. Materials 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.

Perceptions of Own Illness among the Elderly as Measured by the Brief-IPQ Scale and the IPIS

“…Turkish patients with rheumatoid arthritis in the perception of their illness attached great importance to its chronicity and existential consequences. Moreover, they severely felt its negative effects in relation to the emotional sphere [20].…”

Effects of illness perception on negative emotions and fatigue in chronic rheumatic diseases: Rumination as a possible mediator

“…The Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R) scale has three sections and assesses total nine domains of illness perception as perceived by patients. The 70-item IPQ-R has already been validated in rheumatic diseases[ 57 , 58 ] and other medical illnesses[ 59 , 60 ]. Section one is the identity subscale (14 items, score range: 0-14), in which patients responded using a binomial scale of 0 (no) and 1 (yes).…”

“…The third section consists of items on perceived causes of illness. This section was omitted as suggested for studies on rheumatic diseases[ 57 ], considering that the etiology for RA and SLE is currently still unknown. This scale was established to have good internal reliability in previous studies[ 59 ].…”

Parameters of the Subjective Pattern of Disease in Rheumatoid Patients

“…Полученные данные соотносятся с результатами исследований Nowicka-Sauer et al ( 2018), где было показано: чем меньше пациент с системной красной волчанкой знает о своем заболевании, тем с большей вероятностью возрастает уровень тревоги, депрессии, а также качество сна и восприятие боли. Также было установлено, что большинство пациентов среднего возраста имеют негативные представления о своем заболевании, что также увеличивает вероятность повышения уровня тревоги, восприятия боли (Ulus et al, 2017).…”