Revista Dor (Apr 2022)

Pain and disability in patients with osteoarthritis: the key role of self-efficacy

  • Ana Cristina Paredes,
  • Armando Almeida,
  • Patrícia R. Pinto

DOI
https://doi.org/10.24875/DOR.M23000022
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 29, no. 2

Abstract

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Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating condition and better understood within a biopsychosocial framework. Psychological variables can influence disease experience and are amenable to change. This work explored how negative and positive psychological variables are associated with pain and disability in OA. Sixty-six participants with knee or hip OA (54.5% female; mean age 67.8 years) completed a sociodemographic, clinical, and psychological assessment. The role of negative (pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression) and positive (self-efficacy, optimism, and satisfaction with life) psychological variables was investigated using correlation tests and hierarchical linear regression models. Three separate models were created for each dependent variable (pain intensity and disability), controlling for sociodemographic, and clinical characteristics. Model 1 included negative variables, model 2 included positive variables, and model 3 combined the statistically significant variables in previous models. Variables associated with pain intensity were disability in model 1 (β = 0.264, p = 0.039) and self-efficacy in model 2 (β = −0.375, p = 0.017). Model 3 explained 21% of the variance in pain intensity, with self-efficacy being the only statistically significant variable (β = −0.380, p = 0.008). For disability, pain location (β = 0.293, p = 0.017), pain intensity (β = 0.244, p = 0.038), and depression (β = 0.290, p = 0.015) were statistically significant in model 1, along with self-efficacy in model 2 (β = −0.412, p = 0.003). Model 3 explained 34% of the variance in disability, with self-efficacy being the only statistically significant variable (β = −0.479, p = 0.001). Self-efficacy emerged as the most relevant variable in regression models, above other clinical and psychological characteristics. Promoting competency beliefs may be a useful strategy to improve pain and physical function in OA patients.

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