Patient motivation has been considered to play an essential role in defining the treatment outcomes. Measurement of patients' motivation shows their proactive approach, commitment, and self-realization to manage their disease which is of great importance both at the individual level and at the educational program evaluation.

Recently, Y. El Miedany and colleagues performed a study with an aim to form a questionnaire to evaluate patient’s “motivation” and examine the psychometric properties of that measure in patients who have chronic inflammatory arthritis.

Rasch analysis, questions item pool, content analysis, and semi-structured group discussion were used to prepare the questionnaire which included a 10-item scale (0–10 on VAS scale). Construct validity was estimated by comparing the questionnaire score to parameters of disease activity (DAS-28, ASDAS, and DAPSA scores), functional disability, quality of life, patient self-helplessness measure, as well as the patients' compliance to therapy. Reliability and comprehensibility and responsiveness to change were also evaluated.

The questionnaire of 432 Rheumatoid arthritis, 415 Psoriatic arthritis patients, and 232 Ankylosing spondylitis patients was analyzed. Dimensionality analysis exhibited 1-factor solution and explained 98% of the total variance. It showed acceptable validity as it correlated significantly with disease activity measures: DAS-28: r = −0.85, ASDAS: r = −0.86, and DAPSA: r = −0.89. It also correlated significantly with functional disability score: r = −0.91, QoL: r = −0.90, as well as patient self-helplessness: r = −0.88. The questionnaire was valid (Cronbach's alpha 0.958) with no oddball items. It was also comprehensible (9.4) and sensitive to change (p < 0.01). The patient motivation score showed remarkable (p < 0.01) variation with the medication compliance.

The overall results of this study recommend measure as a patient-reported tool which is valid, reliable, comprehensible, and unidimensional scale and reflects the patients' motivation and engagement. The measure has high-grade psychometric properties, which makes it ideal for use at the individual patient level to tailor management and monitor variations.