Article

The objective of the study was to investigate the course of
psychological distress in early rheumatoid arthritis patients and to explore the
strength of its associations with disease-related variables over time. A further
aim focused specifically on the associations between social support and
psychological distress. METHODS: The study had a longitudinal design, with four
annual measurements over consecutive years.
The course and stability of
psychological distress on the individual level were investigated via test-retest
correlation coefficients and changes over time were studied using the Friedman
test for repeated measurements. Hierarchical regression analysis was performed to
analyze the multilinear associations of disease activity, functional disability,
joint tenderness, pain and social support with psychological distress. RESULTS:
Significant cross-sectional associations were found among functional disability,
joint tenderness, pain, emotional support, instrumental support and psychological
distress. However, after controlling for the erratic pattern of the disease and
the relevant variables, only initial psychological distress and emotional support
retained a significant relationship with psychological distress.
The final
regression model, in which functional disability, pain, emotional support and
initial psychological distress were significant variables, explained 36% of the
variance in psychological distress. CONCLUSION: The study stresses the importance
of initial psychological distress, which was found to have the highest
correlation with psychological distress experienced 4 years later. In addition,
higher emotional support and lower pain were found to be the only variables
independently associated with lower levels of psychological distress after
controlling for the relevant variables.

Langue : ANGLAIS