Pain and Affected Symptoms of Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis During COVID-19 Period

Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the symptoms, pain, and function changes experienced by rheumatoid arthritis patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This descriptive study was completed with a total of 119 patients from the rheumatology clinic of a university hospital who met the follow-up research criteria and agreed to participate in the study. Descriptive features question form, pandemic period disease characteristics form, and Visual Analogue Scale were used to collect data.

The mean age of the patients was 48.53 ± 10.24, the duration of the disease was 69.63 ± 37.02 months, the average visual analog scale values before the pandemic period were 3.77 ± 1.40, while the average visual analog scale values during the pandemic period were 5.02 ± 1.57. The most common patient complaints were hygiene problems (p < .001), dressing problems (p < .001), and nutritional problems (p < .001) due to increased pain during the pandemic period. It was determined that the patients needed a health care professional for self-care (p < .001), injections (p < .001), and pain management (p < .001) during the pandemic period.

During the pandemic period, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) stated that they needed the support of a health care professional for self-care, injections, and pain management.