Effects of stress management on clinical outcomes in rheumatoid arthritis
J C Parker1, K L Smarr, S P Buckelew
1Psychology Service, Harry S Truman Memorial Veterans Hospital, Columbia, MO 65201, USA.
Objective:
To examine the effects of stress-management training on clinical outcomes in persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods:
Patients with RA (n = 141) were randomly assigned to 1 of 3 groups: a stress management group, an attention control group, or a standard care control group. The stress management and the attention control groups received a 10-week intervention followed by an additional 15-month maintenance phase.
Results:
The stress management group showed statistically significant improvements on measures of helplessness, self-efficacy, coping, pain, and health status. Selected beneficial effects were still detectable at the 15-month followup evaluation.
Conclusion:
The data indicated that stress management interventions are capable of producing important clinical benefits for persons with RA.
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