Table 3.
Participants’ perceived risk, health literacy, subjective numeracy and responses to the B-IPQ and BMQ subscales (N=289)
| Variable | Mean (SD) | Median (IQR) |
| Perceived likelihood of developing rheumatoid arthritis in your lifetime (1: very unlikely, 5: very likely) | 3.50 (0.86) | 4.00 (3–4) |
| Single Item Literacy Screener (1: always need help to understand written information from doctor, 5: never need help) | 4.85 (0.59) | 5.00 (5–5) |
| Three-Item Subjective Numeracy Scale total score (3: lowest numeracy score, 18: highest numeracy score) | 15.00 (3.03) | 16.00 (14–17.5) |
| BMQ-General-Harm subscale total score (4: most agreement that medicines are harmful, 20: least agreement that medicines are harmful) | 16.00 (2.39) | 16.00 (14–18) |
| BMQ-General-Overuse subscale total score (4: most agreement that medicines are overused, 20: least agreement that medicines are overused) | 13.79 (2.80) | 14.00 (12–16) |
| B-IPQ1 (consequences): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how much do you think it would affect your life? (0: not affect me at all, 10: severely affect my life) | 8.26 (1.49) | 8.00 (7–10) |
| B-IPQ2 (timeline): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how long do you think it would continue? (0: a very short time, 10: forever) | 9.67 (0.92) | 10.00 (10–10) |
| B-IP3 (personal control): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how much control do you think you would have over it? (0: absolutely no control, 10: extreme amount of control) | 4.28 (2.22) | 5.00 (3–6) |
| B-IPQ4 (treatment control): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how much do you think your treatment would help it? (0: not at all helpful, 10: extremely helpful) | 7.12 (1.84) | 7.00 (6–8) |
| B-IPQ5 (identity): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how much do you think you would experience symptoms from it? (0: no symptoms at all, 10: many severe symptoms) | 7.67 (1.49) | 8.00 (7–9) |
| B-IPQ6 (concern): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how concerned do you think you would be about it? (0: not at all concerned, 10: very concerned) | 8.83 (1.52) | 9.00 (8–10) |
| B-IPQ7 (coherence): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how well do you think you would understand it? (0: not understand at all, 10: understand very clearly) | 8.2 (1.64) | 8.00 (7–10) |
| B-IPQ8 (emotional representation): if you were to develop rheumatoid arthritis, how much do you think it would affect you emotionally? (0: not at all affected emotionally, 10: extremely affected emotionally) | 7.54 (2.13) | 8.00 (7–9) |
B-IPQ, Brief Illness Perceptions Questionnaire; BMQ, Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire.