Qualitative Exploration of Illness Perceptions of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the General Public

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Simons, G., Mason, A., Falahee, M., Kumar, K., Mallen, C.D., Raza, K. and Stack, R.J. ORCID: 0000-0002-0516-0228, 2017. Qualitative Exploration of Illness Perceptions of Rheumatoid Arthritis in the General Public. Musculoskeletal Care, 15 (1), pp. 13-22. ISSN 1478-2189

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Official URL: http://doi.org/10.1002/msc.1135

Abstract

Treating patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) within three months of symptom onset 2 leads to significantly improved outcomes. However, many people delay seeking medical 3 attention. In order to understand the reasons for this delay, it is important to have a thorough 4 understanding of public perceptions about RA. The current study investigated these perceptions 5 used the Self-Regulation Model (SRM) as a framework to explain how health behavior is 6 influenced by illness perceptions (prototypes) through qualitative interviews with 15 members of 7 the public without RA. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed and analyzed using 8 framework analysis based on SRM illness perceptions. 9 Both accurate and inaccurate perceptions about the identity, causes, consequences, 10 controllability and timeline of RA were identified. This highlights opportunities to enhance public 11 knowledge about RA. These findings further support the utility of exploring prototypical beliefs of 12 illness, suggesting their potential role in influencing help-seeking behaviors and identifying 13 probable drivers/barriers to early presentation.

Item Type:

Journal article

Alternative Title:

Illness perceptions of rheumatoid arthritis [short title]

Publication Title:

Musculoskeletal Care

Creators:

Simons, G., Mason, A., Falahee, M., Kumar, K., Mallen, C.D., Raza, K. and Stack, R.J.

Publisher:

John Wiley

Date:

March 2017