Coping strategies observed in women with rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

When faced with a chronic disease such as rheumatoid arthritis, the patient attempts to cope with the stressful situation by applying coping strategies. The main aim of rheumatoid treatment is not only improving health but also increasing the quality of life. The research objective was to determine the relationship among socio-demographic factors, duration of the disease and its associated ailments, attitude to the disease, self-assessment of one's knowledge of RA, and the application of coping strategies in stressful situations by women with rheumatoid arthritis. The study involved 193 patients of the Clinic of Rheumatology and Systemic Connective Tissue Diseases, and the Rheumatology Unit of the Specialist Outpatient Clinic of the Independent Public Teaching Hospital No. 4 in Lublin, from November 2016-June 2017. The Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Inventory (COPE) Questionnaire and an author's Original Questionnaire were used in the study. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey's range test were applied for statistical analysis. A p-value<0.05 defined the statistical differences. Analysis was performed using the commercial SPSS Statistics 19 software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY, USA). The respondents usually use instrumental social support (11.5±1.7), focus on and vent emotions (11.4±1.9), use emotional social support (11.4±1.8), employ active coping (11.4±2.1) and positive reinterpretation and growth (11.2±1.8), and least often rely on their sense of humour (5.5±1.4) or use alcohol or drugs (5±1.1). The factors which determine the types of strategy used are age, education, the duration of the disease, ailments experienced, and attitude towards the disease. Those respondents who declared a greater knowledge of RA more often applied positive reinterpretation and growth, and more rarely used alcohol or drugs. In the treatment and rehabilitation processes it is important to reinforce in the patient positive expectations for the treatment, seek advantages and benefits in one's present health status, and educate patients about the disease, its therapy and appropriate coping strategies.

Quality of Life, Social Support, Coping Strategies, and Psychiatric Morbidity in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

“… 11 In index study, denial had greater scores followed by internalization coping. In line with recent study, 12 we also found association of coping with age, duration of illness, disease severity indicators, as anger coping was less reported in older patients, greater externalization coping was used in earlier course of RA, and more use of internalization coping was seen with greater disease severity. In index study, internalization coping (to increase the risk) and externalization coping (to reduce the risk) were significant predictors for psychiatric disorders.…”

Adaptive coping strategies among individuals living with long-term chikungunya disease: a qualitative study in Curaçao

“…This study is limited by the fact that all participants were Afro-Caribbean, and therefore, our findings may not be inclusive of the views of those of other ethnicities and cultures. In addition, the majority of our study sample may be categorised as having moderate to high socioeconomic status, 67 this profile has been reported to foster adaptive coping strategies, 68 69 including higher levels of pain acceptance and resilience. 70 71 We assume that this was no major issue, since the aim of this study was to gain in-depth insights of the personal adaptive coping strategies employed by individuals affected by long-term chikungunya disease.…”

The role of support from significant others in the association between disease-related factors and sickness absence in early rheumatoid arthritis: a longitudinal study

“…Several benefits have been reported in relation to support, both in people with RA and in other conditions, such as different types of support affecting aspects of mental well-being of people with physical disabilities (17). Furthermore, support facilitates self-management behaviour (18) and health behaviours such as physical activity (20,21), and emotional support in particular is a well-used coping strategy in RA (19). Because the question our patients were asked consisted of emotional and practical support jointly, no conclusions can be drawn from our results regarding emotional support exclusively.…”

“…Support is often referred to as types of instrumental, emotional, or informational resources provided by the social environment (16). These various types of support are associated with different aspects of mental well-being (17) as well as self-management (18), coping (19), and health behaviours (20,21). Significant others who provide encouragement and motivation improve the likelihood that people with chronic diseases will continue working (22).…”