Effect of Education on Perceived Self-Efficacy for Individuals with Arthritis

Background: Arthritis self-efficacy characterizes individuals’ confidence in managing their arthritis. Patient education in arthritis aims to improve health outcomes by prompting people to adopt self-management behaviours. Therefore, perceived self-efficacy and patient education in arthritis is of great importance. Aims: This study was performed to determine the effects of education on self-efficacy perception in arthritis individuals. Methodology: This study was a semi-experimental of pre-test and post test design in an equivalent control group. The research was conducted in a physiotherapy and immunology clinics in Erzurum, Turkey. The data were obtained from 80 individuals with arthritis. These eighty arthritis individuals were composed 40 of whom were in the experimental and 40 of whom were in control group. As the data gathering tools, a questionnaire form and arthritis self-efficacy scale (ASES) were used. ASES developed by Lorig et al. and adjusted from English to Turkish by Ünsal&Kaşıkçı was used to measure individuals’ self-efficacy. Questionnaire form and scale were completed by the individuals in both groups. Patients in the experimental group were educated with the booklet. The education program was applied 4 times, once in 3 weeks. The time required for each stage was 45~60 minutes. In the control group, care was provided according to the usual routine. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the pre-test ASES scores of the individuals in both groups. Self-efficacy levels after education were significantly improved in the experimental group compared to the control group. Conclusions: The results of this study showed that the planned education can be considered an effective intervention for increasing self-efficacy perception in arthritis individuals.