به سمت درک وضعیت عاطفی افراد مبتلا به بیماری های مزمن
1- Introduction
2- Methods
3- Results
4- Discussion
References
Introduction
Chronic illness is indicated by theWorld Health Organization as the leading cause of premature death in the world. According to WHO’s estimates, it is responsible for 63% of all fatalities [1]. Chronic illness is defned by its slow progression and long duration, two traits which force patients to adapt to new, changed circumstances, and which afect most aspects of life, usually negatively, consequently signifcantly lowering health-related quality of life [2]. One chronic illness severely altering its suferers’ ability to function is rheumatoid arthritis (RA). RA is the most common rheumatic disorder among connective tissue disorders. It is a persistent, progressive infammatory process beginning in the synovial membrane, leading to the deformation and destruction of articular tissues, and the impairment of articulatory function [3]. Typical age of onset is between 40 and 60 years and incidence is 3 to 4 times higher in women than in men. A person afected by rheumatoid arthritis experiences numerous somatic problems, such as the deformation and deterioration of joints, chronic pain, fatigue, weight loss, and fever. Besides these, the suferer must also deal with psychological hardships, primarily marked by negative afect: anxiety, depression, feelings of loss, and social difculties related to changes in fulflling social roles [4]. Te theoretical approach based on which we can understand the processes of adaptation to chronic disease is the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping [5]. Tis approach assumes that a stress transaction is a complex process in which a number of consecutive phases can be distinguished: the occurrence of an event, its cognitive evaluation, dealing with its consequences. Additionally, the stress transaction process is modifed by the available resources [6]. In this perspective, resources act as a mediator between the diferent stages of a stress transaction. For example, due to its high mental resilience, a person is able to fexibly adjust coping strategies to the requirements of the situation [7]. In the proposed study, we investigated coping (coping with pain), resources (ego-resilience), and consequences (pain, depression, and anxiety). A basic problem that RA patients must cope with is pain. As the disorder advances, pain levels usually increase [8]. Te unpredictability of pain is one trait disrupting well-being; patients cannot predict the end of an ongoing episode of pain nor the onset of another one. Tis negatively impacts the suferers’ emotional state and greatly increases their negative afect.