Patients' coping strategies in the first 2 years of rheumatoid arthritis: a qualitative study

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that requires lifelong medication and self-management. Few studies have explored the coping strategies patients use to make life manageable after an RA diagnosis, and how these strategies function in the adaptive process of living with RA. The aim was to describe coping strategies patients with RA use to manage everyday life during the first 2 years after diagnosis.

A purposeful sample of 22 patients, each with a disease duration of 12 to 20 months, participated in interviews conducted either in focus groups or individually. The study used an abductive qualitative content analysis combining inductive identification of coping strategies with deductive categorisation.

The analysis revealed various coping strategies and their functions, which were categorised into 10 subcategories and 3 categories. They represented the adaptive processes used by patients to coordinate actions and contingencies within their environment, rely on available social resources, and align preferences with available options.

During the early years with RA and modern medical care, patients expressed the need to use various coping strategies to manage everyday life. The strategies varied depending on the patient's life situation and context and ranged from making a mental effort, to accepting and adjusting their mindset, to planning and finding solutions.