Negative and positive illness representations of rheumatoid arthritis: a latent profile analysis

Abstract

This study extends previous work to consider whether individuals with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) can be categorised into groups with similar illness representations. Data from 227 RA patients attending outpatient clinics were collected prospectively at two time points, 6 months apart. The optimal number of illness representation groups at the baseline assessment was identified using latent profile analysis. Two groups of individuals sharing similar illness perception profiles were identified. The smaller group (43%), characterised by a negative representation of their illness, attributed more symptoms to their condition and reported stronger perceptions of the consequences, chronicity and cyclicality of their condition, and lower control compared to the positive representation group (57%). Cross-sectionally, membership of the negative representation group was associated with higher levels of pain and functional disability and, longitudinally, with increases in levels of pain, functional disability and distress. These data highlight the central role of illness perceptions in RA and suggest that individuals with RA can be categorised into groups with similar illness representations.

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

“…5,6,[32][33][34] However, these relationships were not found in our study. In the literature, there are a few studies investigating the relationship between illness perceptions and disease activity in RA and the results are contradictory.…”

“…5,6,[32][33][34][35] Patients with poor well-being had more symptoms attributed to RA, and perceived negative consequences and negative emotions due to RA. Patients who believed that they understood their disease had lower level of depression and more life satisfaction.…”

“…36 With respect to RA, different domains of illness perceptions have been shown to be related to depression. 5,6,8,[32][33][34][35] The association between the illness perceptions, and depression and life satisfaction scores in Turkish RA patients may be mutual. Patients may view their illness more negatively because of the poor well-being, or negative beliefs of the patients about their RA may cause them to become depressive and less satisfied with life.…”

Illness Schema Activation and the Effects of Illness Seasonality on Accessibility of Implicit Illness-Related Information

“…The experiment comprised: a) a supraliminal prime (common cold vs. control) derived from previous studies [10,11], b) a modified Stroop color naming task [15] comprising common cold vs. neutral words, c) a questionnaire and debrief.…”

“…One recent development is illness-perception profiling, in which multiple illness representation dimensions are considered simultaneously to produce 'profiles' of representations that reflect higher or lower illness threat and are associated with different illness outcomes. [9,10,11]. Profiling is an important step in investigation of the contents of an illness schema that might be simultaneously activated during an illness episode.…”