Study on the relationship between fatigue, empowerment level and self-efficacy in rheumatoid arthritis patients

Objective To analyze the relationship between fatigue and self- efficacy and empowerment in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Methods A total of 219 cases of rheumatoid arthritis were investigated by general data questionnaire, Bristol Rheumatoid Arthritis Fatigue Multi-Dimensional Questionnaire, Chinese Version of Patient Perception of Empowerment Scale and Chinese Version of Arthritis Self-efficacy Scale-8. SPSS 20.0 software was used for correlation analysis and AMOS software was used to construct structural equation model to test the mediating effect of self-efficacy between empowerment level and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Results There was a significant negative correlation between fatigue and empowerment level (r=-0.62, P <0.05), and a significant correlation between fatigue and self-efficacy (r=-0.81, P <0.05). Self-efficacy had a mediating effect on empowerment level and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and the mediating effect accounted for 96.41% of the total effect. Conclusions Self-efficacy has mediating effect between powerment level and fatigue in patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Key words: Rheumatoid arthritis; Fatigue; Self-efficacy; Empowerment; Mediating role