Effect Of Stress on Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Rheumatoid Arthritis

Abstract

Stress symptoms affect one’s body, thoughts and feelings. Stress may decrease an individual’s self-esteem, increasing anxiety and sadness, and adversely affecting the general quality of life (QoL) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Objective: To determine the effect of stress on quality of life in patients with chronic rheumatoid arthritis. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 196 participants at The University of Lahore Teaching Hospital. Stress in RA patients was measured using a perceived stress score (PSS). PSS scores were calculated by inverting replies to the four positively stated items (items 4, 5, 7, and 8) and then accumulating all scale items (e.g., 0 = 4, 1 = 3, 2 = 2, 3 = 1 & 4 = 0). The SF-36 questionnaire was used to measure QoL. The lower the score, the  greater the degree of impairment; for example, a score of zero equals maximum disability and a score of 100 equals no disability. A non-probability convenient sampling strategy was used to compute sample size. Results: The results showed that the average value of age was 44.14± 6.842 years with a lowest value of 32.00 and a highest value of 58.00 years. Male had a frequency of 13 (6.6%) and patients with a frequency of 183 (93.4%). According to the results, the average value of physical health component scoring was 37.12± 9.96 and the average value of mental health component scoring was 44.00± 5.738. The results showed that the average value of perceived stress score was 25.32± 7.47. The significant value of 0.000 was smaller than the p-value in the study, indicating that there is a link between stress and quality of life. Conclusion: These findings led to the conclusion that stress had an impact on RA Patient's quality of life.