Psychological factors associated with disability in arthritis.

A sample of chronically disabled arthritic patients was studied in 1981, and again in 1983, using a questionnaire which included attitudinal and mood items. The majority of patients had high pain and disability, and this did not significantly change between 1981 and 1983. The questionnaire was able to significantly discriminate between subjective disability and pain groups. This discrimination was more accurate than that made by orthopaedic surgeons using physical ratings alone, and possible 'good coping' and 'bad coping' profiles emerged.