Helplessness and Health Behavior of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis*

Purpose: This study was to find out the relationships between helplessness and health behavior of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. Method: The subjects were 293 rheumatoid arthritis patients who visit 2 rheumatology outpatient clinics in G city. Data were collected by questionnaires including Arthritis helplessness index(Nicassio, Wallston, Callahan, Herbert, & Pincus, 1985)and health behavior assessment scale(Jo, Oh & Choe, 2000). The data were analyzed with Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test, ANOVA and Duncan's multiple range test. Results: The majority of the subjects were women and the mean age was 50.4years. Th