Disease perception is the cognitive aspect of the disease state. Although they experience the same disease in a certain period of their lives, the methods of meeting the disease and coping with the disease differ. Patients try to explain their illnesses in the light of their personal experiences, knowledge, values, beliefs and needs. People create cognitive models to explain and predict events in the outside world. Patients also develop similar patterns of symptoms of transient or long-term disease. Leventhal et al. suggested that patients formed their own coping mechanisms with these cognitive models and developed the self-regulation theory. According to this theory, people create schemas about illness and life-threatening situations in their minds with the information presented to them from concrete and abstract sources. These cognitive models also include beliefs about treatment and control of the condition.~The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified more than 200 musculoskeletal diseases, the most common being rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The biopsychosocial model has been drawing attention in rheumatological rehabilitation in recent years. This model acknowledges that the experiences and symptoms of the disease are affected by biological, psychological and social factors. The dysfunction is not only related to the severity of the disease, but also to how the disease is perceived. The patient's beliefs and perceptions about his illness show how the illness affects him both physically and emotionally. Disease perception is based not only on symptoms but also on disease-related consequences, concerns, and past illness experiences of the patient. Recent studies emphasize the importance of disease perception in explaining the difference in treatment outcomes in chronic diseases, including rheumatic diseases.~It was planned to determine the validity and reliability of the Disease Perception Scale in Rheumatic Diseases due to the importance of treatment in rheumatic diseases and the evaluation of disease perception in terms of the course of the disease.
In chronic diseases such as rheumatic diseases, it is important to direct the treatment of the disease and to evaluate the disease perception in terms of the course of the disease. As a result of this study, this questionnaire, which will help us gain information about the perception of the disease specific to rheumatic diseases, will be translated into Turkish.