Do spouses know how much fatigue, pain, and physical limitation their partners with rheumatoid arthritis experience? Implications for social support.
OBJECTIVE
To determine whether perceptions of clinical manifestations (fatigue, pain, and physical limitation) of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) differ between spouses and their partners with RA, and to determine whether the differences are associated with the perception of beneficial and problematic spousal social support.


METHODS
English-speaking adults with RA of ≥ 6 months' duration and their spouses (n = 222 couples) completed standardized questionnaires for fatigue, pain, physical limitation, beneficial spousal support, and problematic spousal support. Spouses completed questionnaires based on their perception of their partner with RA. Agreement scores for fatigue, pain, and physical limitation were calculated by subtracting spouse scores from the scores of the partner with RA. Agreement levels were defined a priori: agreement (within ± one-half of a minimum clinically important difference [MCID] unit), overestimator (< one-half an MCID), and underestimator (> one-half an MCID). Separate hierarchical linear regression models were used to measure the association between beneficial support and problematic support after adjusting for RA duration, physical health, sex, educational level, relationship duration, and satisfaction.


RESULTS
Response rate for couples was 82%. Relative to participants with RA, spouses overestimated fatigue (26%), pain (29%), and physical limitation (39%), and underestimated fatigue (11%), pain (17%), and physical limitation (34%). After statistically controlling for demographic, disease, and psychosocial variables, participants with RA whose spouses underestimated fatigue received more problematic support (R(2) = 3.7%, P = 0.002), as did those whose spouses underestimated or overestimated physical limitation (R(2) = 3.4%, P = 0.017).


CONCLUSIONS
Persons with RA perceived more problematic spousal support when their spouse underestimated fatigue, or underestimated or overestimated physical limitation levels.
Lehman
Allen J
AJ
Simon Fraser University, and The Arthritis Research Centre of Canada, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. alehman@arthritisresearch.ca
Pratt
Daniel D
DD
DeLongis
Anita
A
Collins
John B
JB
Shojania
Kam
K
Koehler
Barry
B
Offer
Robert
R
Esdaile
John M
JM
D000203:Activities of Daily Living / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000150:complications / Q000523:psychology*; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods; D012944:Social Support; D018454:Spouses / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires