title: Coping strategies for health and daily-life stressors in patients with rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and gout: STROBE-compliant article.
abstract: This article aims to identify the strategies for coping with health and daily-life stressors of Mexican patients with chronic rheumatic disease. We analyzed the baseline data of a cohort of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), and gout. Their strategies for coping were identified with a validated questionnaire. Comparisons between health and daily-life stressors and between the 3 clinical conditions were made. With regression analyses, we determined the contribution of individual, socioeconomic, educational, and health-related quality-of-life variables to health status and coping strategy. We identified several predominant coping strategies in response to daily-life and health stressors in 261 patients with RA, 226 with AS, and 206 with gout. Evasive and reappraisal strategies were predominant when patients cope with health stressors; emotional/negative and evasive strategies predominated when coping with daily-life stressors. There was a significant association between the evasive pattern and the low short-form health survey (SF-36) scores and health stressors across the 3 diseases. Besides some differences between diagnoses, the most important finding was the predominance of the evasive strategy and its association with low SF-36 score and high level of pain in patients with gout. Patients with rheumatic diseases cope in different ways when confronted with health and daily-life stressors. The strategy of coping differs across diagnoses; emotional/negative and evasive strategies are associated with poor health-related quality of life. The identification of the coping strategies could result in the design of psychosocial interventions to improve self-management.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Rheumatology (IP-B, JV-M, JC-V, RB-V), Hospital General de México "Eduardo Liceaga," Mexico City, Mexico; Maastricht University Medical Center (AB), The Netherlands; Postgraduate Department of Psychology (I-RL), Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico City; Department of Pediatrics (A-HG), Hospital Universitario "José Eleuterio Gonzalez", Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; Clinical Epidemiology Unit (MVG), Hospital Gabriel Mancera Regional 1, IMSS, Mexico City; Department of Rheumatology (AGB-M), Hospital Civil de Guadalajara, Guadalajara, Jalisco; Department of Rheumatology (JR-A, MAG-E), Hospital Universitario "José Eleuterio Gonzalez," Monterrey, Nuevo Leon; Hospital General de zona 46 (FJA), IMSS and Unidad de Investigación Crônico-Degenerativas, Guadalajara, Jalisco; and Department of Rheumatology (CS), Hospital Central, PEMEX, Mexico City, Mexico.
authors.forename: Ingris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Peláez-Ballestas
authors.forename: Annelis
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Boonen
authors.forename: Janitzia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vázquez-Mellado
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Reyes-Lagunes
authors.forename: Adolfo
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hernández-Garduño
authors.forename: Maria Victoria
authors.initials: MV
authors.lastname: Goycochea
authors.forename: Ana G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Bernard-Medina
authors.forename: Jacqueline
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rodríguez-Amado
authors.forename: Julio
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Casasola-Vargas
authors.forename: Mario A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Garza-Elizondo
authors.forename: Francisco J
authors.initials: FJ
authors.lastname: Aceves
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Shumski
authors.forename: Ruben
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Burgos-Vargas
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000523:psychology*; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006073:Gout / Q000523:psychology*; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011788:Quality of Life; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000523:psychology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000628:therapy*