The interaction of physical function and emotional well-being in rheumatoid arthritis--what is the impact on disease activity and coping?
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the impact of the interaction of physical function and emotional well-being on disease-related parameters and coping with rheumatoid arthritis.


METHODS
A cross-sectional survey among 177 RA patients included demographic and disease-related variables as well as the following patient-reported outcome measures: Health Assessment Questionnaire-Disability Index (HAQ-DI) (physical function), Mental Component Summary Scale of the SF-36 (MCSS) for emotional well-being, Rheumatoid Arthritis Disease Activity Index (RADAI), and Coping with Rheumatoid Arthritis Questionnaire (C-RAQ). Based on HAQ-DI and MCSS, six categories representing various levels of physical and emotional impairment were formed. Multivariate analysis of variance and a subsequent discriminant analysis were used to evaluate whether demographic and disease-related variables and coping strategies differed between these categories.


RESULTS
Patients with moderate to high impairment of physical function and emotional well-being reported significantly higher disease activity and a more frequent use of distancing and active problem solving coping strategies than patients with low-level impairment (p<0.001-0.043). Furthermore, these patients reported experiencing significantly higher levels of helplessness (p<0.001-0.032). Results from the discriminant analysis highlighted a combination of disease activity and helplessness to differentiate best between patients with either low or high impairment of physical function and emotional well-being (p<0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Aside from perceived disease activity, helplessness, and distancing as well as active problem solving allowed for a good discrimination between the different levels of impairment of physical function and emotional well-being. Encouraging and educating patients on how to cognitively reframe their current situation might play a key role in reducing the level of helplessness resulting from impairments of physical function and emotional well-being.
Department of Internal Medicine 3 and Institute of Clinical Immunology, University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Erlangen, Germany. matthias.englbrecht@uk-erlangen.de
Matthias
M
Englbrecht
Madeleine
M
Kruckow
Elizabeth
E
Araujo
Jürgen
J
Rech
Georg
G
Schett
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000523:psychology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D004644:Emotions; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology / Q000523:psychology*; D015438:Health Behavior; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life