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

摘要

Objectives: This study aims to assess the factor structure of the Turkish Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R) in patients with rheumatoidarthritis (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 inthe study. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the factor structure of the IPQ-R. Pain was assessed by visual analog scale, disease activity byDisease Activity Score 28, depression by Beck Depression Inventory, global life satisfaction by the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and illness perceptionby 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 anddiscriminant validity. Beck Depression Inventory scores were correlated with identity, consequences, and emotional representations subscalespositively (p0.05).Conclusion: The Turkish IPQ-R appears to be a useful clinical assessment tool to evaluate RA-related illness perceptions. RA healthcare shouldinclude psychological intervention to strengthen patients’ beliefs about their RA regardless of disease activity.