title: Psychosocial contributors to mental and physical health in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To delineate psychosocial and systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-related medical factors that contribute to the mental and physical health of SLE patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a cross-sectional study, 44 women completed standardized instruments assessing daily hassles, social support, psychologic distress, and quality of life and underwent a physician examination to assess disease activity and disease damage. Four multiple linear regression analyses were computed to identify factors associated with the following outcomes: patient-perceived psychologic distress and global physical health and physician-assessed disease activity and damage. Variables entered into the regression analyses were: hassles severity, types of social support, SLE disease activity and damage, age, disease duration, education, ethnicity, and global psychologic distress (for the outcomes of self-perceived global physical health and disease activity and damage).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The best model explaining global psychologic distress included hassles severity and self-esteem social support. The best model explaining patients' perceptions of their global physical health included hassles severity and tangible social support. Psychologic distress accounted for a significant proportion of variance in both disease activity and damage.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High stress (assessed by hassles severity), poor social support, and psychologic distress--potentially modifiable variables--are associated with the mental and physical health of SLE patients.
authors.affiliation: Division of Clinical Epidemiology, Montreal General Hospital, McGill University, Quebec, Canada.
authors.forename: P L
authors.initials: PL
authors.lastname: Dobkin
authors.forename: P R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Fortin
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Joseph
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Esdaile
authors.forename: D S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Danoff
authors.forename: A E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Clarke
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000523:psychology*; D008603:Mental Health; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012944:Social Support; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological