A RECENT study has found that patients’ interpretations of their initial rheumatoid arthritis (RA) symptoms significantly influence how quickly they seek help from a general practitioner (GP), a key factor in timely diagnosis and treatment.
Using data from 404 recently diagnosed individuals in the Danish Rheumatology Database (DANBIO), researchers assessed the link between illness perceptions and patient delay using the Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised (IPQ-R). The median delay before contacting a GP was 63 days, with younger patients waiting considerably longer than older individuals (84 vs 54 days).
Beliefs about treatment effectiveness played a crucial role: patients with high expectations of treatment control contacted a GP significantly sooner than those with low expectations (median ratio [MR] 0.54; 95% CI 0.29–0.99). Conversely, those who perceived their symptoms as variable were more likely to delay help-seeking (MR 1.61; 95% CI 0.93–2.78).
These findings underline the importance of educating the public about early RA symptoms and the benefits of early treatment. Misconceptions, such as believing symptoms are temporary or unmanageable, can lead to diagnostic delays, worsening long-term outcomes.
The authors suggest that public health campaigns should target these misperceptions to encourage faster engagement with healthcare services and ultimately improve RA prognosis.
Reference
Pedersen SD et al. Early diagnosis of rheumatoid arthritis: associations between patients’ perceptions of initial symptoms and the timing of seeking help from the general practitioner. Scand J Rheumatol. 2025;DOI: 10.1080/03009742.2025.2464457.
