Impact of Social Class on Rheumatoid Arthritis Patient\'s Perception of Illness Symptoms & Pain

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the impact of social class on the patient's perception of illness symptoms and pain, in framework of the Leventhal's Self-Regulatory Model (SRM) of illness behavior. To this aim, the study was performed through a periodic survey. Data were collected from 146 patients with confirmed rheumatoid arthritis who referred to two centers providing RA care. The data gathering instrument used was Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R). The results showed significant differences among patients with different class origin regarding illness perception. In addition to, the comparisons among patient's responses to 10 dimensions of illness perception also showed significant differences among three social classes regarding three dimensions of illness perception, i.e. treatment control, illness coherence and personal control. The results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis showed that settlement location in step 1, insurance status and times of reference to physician in step 2, and social class in step 3, explained for %4.5, %17.9, and %2.6 of the variance in illness perception.

Keywords

• Illness perception
• Social Class
• Self-regulation model
• Rheumatoid Arthritis
• Illness behavior
• Pain