Life satisfaction, health control orientation, and illness-related factors in persons with osteoarthritis.

The purpose of this study was to assess life satisfaction in osteoarthritics and to explore relationships between that variable and health perception, health locus of control, and illness-related factors. The study group consisted of 160 osteoarthritics from four different types of settings. The osteoarthritics rated their present life satisfaction and recent health as relatively good and were externally controlled in terms of their health beliefs. Present life satisfaction was related to better health perception, internal locus of control, and less joint pain.