Pain and Affected Symptoms of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis During COVID-19 Period.
Halil Ibrahim Tuna, Guler Balci Alparslan, Sema Yilmaz
PMID 34489175WHAT IT FOUND
Patients with rheumatoid arthritis who could not attend clinic during the pandemic reported higher pain than before.
They also reported more trouble with hygiene, dressing and cooking.
Key findings
01Average pain score was 5.02 during the pandemic and 3.77 before, with a significant difference (p = .000).
02Patients reported daily hygiene problems in 46.2%, dressing problems in 37.8%, and nutritional problems in 24.4%.
0378.2% said the pandemic affected their disease negatively, and 52.9% needed professional support, most often for injectable drugs (38.7%).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study was done in one university hospital, so it may not represent other settings or populations. It was descriptive and cross-sectional, so it cannot show that the pandemic caused the higher pain or that professional support would reduce it. Pain before the pandemic was recalled during the pandemic, not measured beforehand, so memory and current distress could affect the comparison. Patients were selected for remission and no other chronic disease, no biologic DMARDs, no smoking or alcohol use, and no COVID-19 infection, so broader RA patients may differ. No validated self-care scale was used.
Declared interests
The authors declared no competing interests.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read the higher pain scores as proof that the pandemic caused them or that nurse-led education would reduce them. The study only compared recalled pain before and during a period when patients could not attend clinic, and it tested no treatment.