Quality of Life, Problems Experienced, and Coping Strategies Used by the Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Attending Rheumatology OPD: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

Background: Rheumatoid Arthritis is a chronic, autoimmune, idiopathic and gradually progressing disease. The patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis experience many problems which affect their quality of life for which they use various types of coping strategies which help them improving their lifestyle and work. Material and methods: This was a descriptive quantitative research design conducted among 100 patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis attending the Rheumatology OPD of a tertiary care referral hospital and teaching institute in India. The subjects were selected by total enumeration sampling method. Interview schedule including sociodemographic profile, clinical profile, rating scale for problems experienced and checklist for coping strategies was used and for the assessment of quality of life AIMS 2(SF) was used to gather data. Results: Most common health problem among study participants was fatigue (87%) followed by joint tenderness (78%). The quality of life in the social domain was worst followed by symptom domain whereas the work domain had a better score in terms of mean normalized scores. Most commonly used coping strategy among 73% of study participants was rest in between the work and activities. Conclusion: Patients suffering from Rheumatoid Arthritis has an effect on quality of life as quality of life was comparatively poor in social and symptom domain but least effect was reported in work domain.

Keywords: Coping strategies, health problems, quality of life, rheumatoid arthritis

Cite this Article

Amrit Kaur, Harpreet Kaur, Mandeep Kaur et al. Quality of Life, Problems Experienced, and Coping Strategies Used by the Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients Attending Rheumatology OPD: A Descriptive Study. Research & Reviews: A Journal of Immunology. 2018; 8(2):       17–23p.