OBJECTIVES: @entity1 who are later diagnosed with early @entity309 (ERA) often delay their first contact with a health professional after symptom onset. Besides initial symptoms, psychosocial characteristics of individuals may influence their help-seeking behaviour. We explored the role of disease characteristics, illness perception, and coping in @entity1 -related delay before treatment initiation in recently diagnosed @entity1 with ERA. METHOD: This exploratory, cross-sectional study included 112 @entity1 with ERA from the Care for early RA (CareRA) trial for whom complete data on @entity1 -related delay, coping, and illness perception were available. In addition to baseline sociodemographic and clinical data, the @entity1 ' psychosocial profiles were assessed with the Utrecht Coping List (UCL) and the revised Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Correlations were measured by Spearman's rho. Using regression analyses, we weighted the association of variables with @entity1 -related delay. RESULTS: @entity1 -related delay was positively correlated with perceptions of causality including psychological attributions (r  =  0.301, p  =  0.001), risk factors (r  =  0.189, p  =  0.045), immunity (r  =  0.261, p  =  0.005), and passive coping (r  =  0.222, p  =  0.018). It was negatively correlated with the 28 swollen joint count (SJC28; r  =  -0.194, p  =  0.040), perceptions of treatment control (r  =  -0.271, p  =  0.004), and illness coherence (r  =  -0.208, p  =  0.028). Clinical and psychosocial variables explained 15% and 18%, respectively, of the variability in @entity1 -related delay. CONCLUSIONS: Aside from a lower SJC, a longer @entity1 -related delay was correlated with a passive coping style, a strong conviction of symptom causality, poor expected treatment control, and a feeling of limited illness coherence. Psychosocial aspects influence individuals' help-seeking behaviour and are worth considering when aiming for a reduction in ERA treatment delay.

Are illness perception and coping style associated with the delay between symptom onset and the first general practitioner consultation in early XXXX management? An exploratory study within the CareRA trial.

@entity1 :: ('9606', 'Species') :: ['Persons', 'patients', 'patient', 'Patient'] @entity309 :: ('MESH:D001172', 'Disease') :: ['rheumatoid arthritis']
@entity309 :: (MESH:D001172,Disease) :: ['rheumatoid arthritis']
