Decreasing pain and depression in a health promotion program for people with rheumatoid arthritis.

PURPOSE

To examine whether a comprehensive health promotion program for rheumatoid arthritis (CHPPRA) could alleviate patients' pain, depression, and functional disability.

DESIGN

A quasi-experimental design, nonequivalent control group pretest-posttest design and a preexperimental design, one-group pretest-posttest design were used. The study was conducted in Korea.

METHODS

Outcome variables (pain, depression, and functional disability) and objectives (the practice of pain-management behaviors, regular exercise, and psychosocial coping strategies) were measured in 36 Korean outpatients diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). ANOVA/MANOVA and the Wilcoxon signed rank test were used to analyze data.

FINDINGS

Participants in CHPPRA had reduced pain and depression, but did not show improvements in functional disability. In the intervention group, pain management and psychosocial coping skills were significantly improved, but exercise was not significantly altered after participating in CHPPRA.

CONCLUSIONS

Although this study was limited in design, the results can be reference data for designing, using, and evaluating programs for people with RA.