Patients Perceived Helplessness and its Association with Overall Health Status Among Osteoarthritic Patients in District Chakwal

Abstract

Background: Osteoarthritis patients (OA) deal with, finances, caregiving, education, BMI, diagnosis, harming their overall health status. Objectives: This study was aimed to identify perceived helplessness in patients with osteoarthritis and to assess the association between perceptions of their helplessness and their general health status in osteoarthritis patients. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was carried at a primary healthcare center of Chakwal district. A total of 195 OA patients were selected through non-probability purposive sampling strategy. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS version 26.0. Arthritis Helplessness Index (AHI) Arthritis Impact Measurement Scale (AIMS) were used to assess the overall health status of OA patients. Pearson Chi Square test of Independence was used to determine the association of patient perceived helplessness with their health status and socio-demographic characteristics Results: Majority of respondents were females (n=123, 63%). Nearly 41% respondents (n= 81) were 48 years or above. More than half of the respondents reported poor overall health status (n= 114, 58.5%) while copping strategies to minimize pain were utilized by only 39% patients. There was a significant association between perceived helplessness and overall health status of respondents (p < 0.05). Overall, it was noticed that perceived helplessness was positively affecting the overall health status of respondents. Overall status of health was also significantly associated with age (p value = 0.001), education level (p value= 0.001), dependents (p value = 0.001), diagnosis (p value = 0.001), weight (p value = 0.001) and coping strategies (p value = 0.02)Conclusion: It is concluded that only a small fraction of the participants expressed having a positive overall health status, while the majority characterized their overall health as unfavorable. Additionally, a notable percentage of patients were discovered to be inadequately utilizing coping strategies to effectively mitigate the pain linked with osteoarthritis. Keywords: Chakwal, Osteoarthritis, Overall health status, Patients, Perceived helplessness.