Studying the effect of self-care education based on conceptual mapping on the pain severity of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: A non-randomized quasi-experimental study

BACKGROUND: Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic and progressive disease, the most important and common symptom of which is pain. Considering the physical and psychological effects of pain on health and well-being, it seems that finding new methods such as conceptual mapping to teach self-care to patients is important for controlling and reducing pain. This study was conducted to determine the effect of self-care education based on conceptual mapping on the pain severity of patients with rheumatoid arthritis. METHODS: This is a non-randomized quasi-experimental study conducted between September and December 2023 at Imam Khomeini Hospital’s rheumatology clinic in Tehran, Iran. A total of 70 patients with rheumatoid arthritis were selected through convenience sampling and sequentially allocated to control (n = 35) and intervention (n = 35) groups. The intervention group received two face-to-face, individualized self-care education sessions using concept maps and followed up with weekly phone calls for one month, while the control group received routine clinical education. The pain severity of patients was measured and compared before and after the intervention in both control and intervention groups. The data collection tools in this study included a demographic information questionnaire and the rheumatoid arthritis pain scale (RAPS). Descriptive statistics (frequency distribution tables and numerical indices of minimum, maximum, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential t-tests (Chi-square, Fisher’s exact, and independent t-tests) were used to analyze the findings. Data analysis was performed using SPSS version 16. RESULTS: The results showed no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control groups in terms of pain severity before the intervention (p = 0.295). However, after the intervention, this difference was significant (p < 0.001), and the intervention group had a lower mean pain score compared to the control group. Results of the paired t-test in the intervention group indicated that mean pain scores decreased significantly following the intervention compared to before (p < 0.001). Still, this difference was not significant in the control group (p = 0.488). CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that self-care education based on concept mapping may contribute to reducing pain severity in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and could serve as a complementary strategy for pain management. Nevertheless, due to the limitations of the current study, further research is warranted to validate these results and assess their generalizability. TRIAL REGISTRATION: The protocol of this clinical trial has been registered in the Iranian Clinical Trial Registration Center (registration code: IRCT20230405057828N1). Registered 23 January 2023- registered_while_recruiting, date of first recruitment: 30 May 2023, https://www.irct.ir/ .