Positive affect as a predictor of adherence in patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

• Main Authors: Joana Ramos Rodrigues, Daniela Santos Faria, Joana Sousa Neves, Joana Silva, Daniela Peixoto, Sérgio Alcino, Maria Carmo Afonso, Filipa Teixeira, Rosa Marina Afonso, Henrique Pereira, Soraia Azevedo, José Tavares Costa
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Sociedade Portuguesa de Reumatologia 2019-04-01
• Series: Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa
• Subjects: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA); patient education
• Online Access: http://www.actareumatologica.com/files/article/1246_positive_affect_as_a_predictor_of_adherence_in_patients_with_rheumatoid_arthritis_file.pdf

The study was conducted in order to investigate adherence in patients with Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), correlating it with other variables such as affect and self-esteem. Seventy-eight patients with RA between 20 and 81 years of age were evaluated. Patients were assessed for Medical Outcomes Study (MOS) Measures of Patient Adherence, Rosenberg self-esteem scale and Short Portuguese version of the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Pearson’s correlation coefficient was used to assess the correlation between the therapeutic compliance and age, disease activity, disability, GPA, self-esteem, affect and inflammatory parameters. An independent T-test was used to evaluate differences in adherence within gender. The one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine associations between adherence and marital status, education level and employment status. A linear regression model was adjusted with stepwise data entry to determine predictors of therapeutic compliance. Patients had a mean age of 57 years and disease duration of 12.8 years. We observed higher levels of adherence in patients with higher self-esteem (r= 0.343, p