Abstract
Objective This study aimed to identify differences in patient empowerment based on biopsychosocial patient-reported measures, the magnitude of those differences, and which best explain differences in patient empowerment.
Methods This was a cross-sectional observational study of 6,918 adults with arthritis in the United States. Data were collected from March 2019 to March 2020 through the Arthritis Foundation's Live Yes! INSIGHTS program. Patient empowerment, measured by the Health Care Empowerment Questionnaire, included two scales: Patient Information-Seeking and Healthcare Interaction
Results Patient-reported outcomes were measured using the PROMIS- 29® and PROMIS® Emotional Support scale. Analysis of variance assessed differences between groups; Spearman's Rank Correlation assessed correlations between variables. Hierarchical regression analysis determined the contributions of sociodemographic characteristics, arthritis type, and patent-reported health measures in explaining patient empowerment (α=0.05).
Results Empowerment was lower among those who were male, older, less educated, or who had lower income, osteoarthritis, less emotional support, or better physical function, although the effect was small to negligible for most of these variables in the final regression models. Empowerment did not differ by race/ethnicity in unadjusted or adjusted analysis. In final regression models, Emotional Support contributed the most to explaining patient empowerment.
Conclusion Emotional support is important for patient empowerment. This suggests that programs that seek to improve patient empowerment should target and measure impacts on emotional support.
