Effects of a cognitive-behavioral intervention for women with rheumatoid arthritis

The purpose of this quasi-experimental study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a cognitive-behavioral nursing intervention for women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Ninety adult women with RA participated in 1 of 14 nurse-led groups over an 18-month period. Personal coping resources, pain-coping behaviors, psychological well-being, and disease symptomatology were measured at four time periods. There were significant changes on all of the measures of personal coping resources (p < .001) and psychological well-being (p < .05), half of the pain-coping behaviors (p < .05), and one indicator of disease symptomatology (fatigue, p < .05) from pre- to postintervention. Furthermore, the positive changes brought about by the program were maintained over the 3-month follow-up period. The intervention may be adapted to benefit individuals with a variety of stressful medical conditions.