6 with the pain experience and inﬂuences expectations of recovery [61]. It would make sense that high organic pain beliefs should have a relationship with poor functioning. Pain catastrophising plays a signiﬁcant role in the experience of pain and predicts the persistence of pain [62–65]. This raises the possibility that organic pain beliefs have similar eﬀects to catastrophising in inﬂuencing outcomes in those with persistent pain. The most recent literature about catas- trophising shows that the relationship between coping, pain adjustment, and catastrophising is still not fully understood [66]. This study raises the diﬀerences between the two dimen- sions of pain beliefs (organic and psychological) and their relationship with functioning. Psychological and occupa- tional factors can also contribute to persistence of the pain experience [10, 67–71]. In this sample, it is shown that psy- chological beliefs, the beliefs about the internal inﬂuences and feelings aﬀecting the experience of pain, do not have any relationship with functioning. This is in contrast to sys- tematic reviews that have shown psychological and occupa- tional factors to have the highest reliability for prognostic factors contributing to persistence of the pain experience [10, 67–70]. There is a growing body of research supporting the model that the transition from acute to persistent pain is associated with serious life stressors including cognitive- aﬀective factors [56]. When the PBQ was ﬁrst developed it was noted that patients with persistent pain were more likely to support the organic beliefs items, while nonpatients were more likely to support the psychological beliefs items [16]. 4.2. Strengths and Weaknesses. The strength of this study is the novel association of the two instruments, the AIMS2- SF and the PBQ for rheumatologic conditions, and the evi- dence that this relationship is consistent with international research. A correlation of these two instruments has not yet been applied. A further strength is the speciﬁc focus on ANZ with a moderate sample size within the larger population of rheumatologic conditions. Several factors might account for the fact that the psycho- logical beliefs do not show a relationship with functioning. The psychological beliefs scale has only 4 questions, in contrast to the 8 in the organic scale. It is perhaps a limitation of this questionnaire that the psychological beliefs are less featured or that speciﬁcally it is the organic beliefs rather than psychological beliefs that contribute to the persistent pain aﬀecting functioning. The ANZ programmes and input could have inﬂuenced the data acquired. Sixty-one per cent of participants had joined the ANZ organisation over the previous three years. The functioning and psychological beliefs of responders may have been modiﬁed through their previous participation in the seminars and exercise groups, whereas the organic beliefs may not have been modiﬁed. Since this study was not longitudinal in design, the direction of eﬀects between the organic pain beliefs and functioning could not be determined. Furthermore, the sample group is limited to the members of ANZ in a small geographical area; these ﬁndings would need to be con- ﬁrmed in wider areas. Nonresponders were 35% of those approached; there remains the possibility that their beliefs Rehabilitation Research and Practice about pain and functioning may have diﬀered from those of the responders. There was a high percentage (85%) of female participants in the sample. Men might have diﬀerent beliefs about pain and express them diﬀerently; their levels of functional ability associated with persistent pain might diﬀer from those of women [72, 73]. The study only captured 4% of Maori par- ticipants, due to Christchurch being on the South Island with fewer Maori and Paciﬁc Island populations. New Zealand health statistics generally show poorer health and socioeco- nomic status for the Maori and Paciﬁc Island populations. 4.3. Implications for Clinical Practitioners. Research out- comes for evidence-based medicine are becoming more important for everyday clinical decisions and health funding. This study provides evidence that organic beliefs and func- tioning are indeed related. It is recommended that clinicians ask their patients about pain beliefs. It would be sensible to address organic pain beliefs early in their consultations, as patient beliefs about pain are inﬂuenced by interactions with health professionals [74–76]. The way to do this may be to make use of target questions to reveal underlying organic beliefs possibly contributing to poor functioning. For exam- ple, “Do you believe that it is impossible for you to control your pain,” or “do you believe that your pain means that there is something permanently wrong with your body?” Patients with rheumatologic conditions who respond in the aﬃrmative should be encouraged to modify their organic beliefs. Information and education based on a biopsychosocial model have been shown to be eﬀective in modifying beliefs, improving outcomes and in treatment compliance [77]. 4.4. Implications for Future Research. These data show that organic beliefs and functioning are signiﬁcantly related. However, psychological beliefs and functioning are not. Future research should determine the direction of this eﬀect. The causal links between organic pain beliefs and func- tional ability for rheumatologic conditions could be further explored and relationships between organic beliefs and cata- strophising investigated. The inﬂuences of organic and psy- chological pain beliefs with functioning in other medical conditions can be probed. Possible cultural and gender fac- tors inﬂuencing pain beliefs in diﬀerent populations (e.g., Maori and Paciﬁc Islanders, refugees, other minority groups in New Zealand) could be considered as well. This study conﬁrmed a relationship between organic beliefs about pain and functioning (as shown by participants in the Arthritis New Zealand exercise classes and education programmes). As previously stated, the functioning and beliefs of responders may have been modiﬁed through their previous participation in the seminars and exercise groups. Particulary, how the programmes of ANZ inﬂuence and modify beliefs about pain or improve functioning as well as their variability in eﬃcacy across the diﬀerent geographic locations requires more investigation. The instruments used in this study might not have been able to detect a relationship between the psychological beliefs about pain and functioning. On the other hand, rheumatologic conditions might have psychological features