An integrative review of experiences of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

To provide an overview of evidence on the experiences and needs of adults living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

Many research have studied the impact of RA on one's quality of life, but no reviews have examined the overall experiences of patients living with RA.

An integrative review was performed to synthesize the experiences and/or needs of adult patients with RA based on articles retrieved from databases of CINAHL, Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO and Web of Science, and published between January 2003 and March 2014 in English.

A total of 38 studies were reviewed. RA has adverse effects on patients' quality of life due to its negative impacts in their physical and psychosocial aspects of health. Patients with RA cope with these impacts using various methods and are frequent users of healthcare services. However, few studies have evaluated patients' further needs in coping or the effectiveness of their coping mechanisms, and patients' experiences with health care.

This review provides evidence for healthcare professionals to gain a better understanding of RA patients' experiences and needs. Future studies can explore interventions that will enhance the quality of current healthcare practices and ultimately improve patients' quality of life.

Establishing a positive healthcare professional-patient relationship is crucial and healthcare professionals are in a position to provide greater informational and emotional support to patients. Policy makers and healthcare organizations need to look into ways to enhance the healthcare services to better suit RA patients' needs.