Disease characteristics, level of self-esteem and psychological well-being in rheumatoid arthritis patients

The present study addresses the relationship between early rheumatoid arthritis and an element of personality i.e. the self-esteem, as an intervening variable on psychological well-being. From a sample of 292, more or less recently diagnosed RA-patients, the relationships between disease parameters, self-esteem and psychological well-being were studied. Five subgroups of patients have been formed according to the duration of the disease: from four years disease duration up to incident cases. Disease parameters such as the duration of RA or the sedimentation rate is not associated with patients' self-esteem. The self-esteem of RA-patients is negatively related to the level of joint tenderness. Also, the lower the self-esteem of patients, the lower the level of psychological well-being. Joint tenderness with the patients' level of self-esteem explain 34% of the scoring on psychological well-being.