PSYCHOSOCIAL PREDICTORS OF FUNCTIONAL CHANGE IN RECENTLY DIAGNOSED RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

In order to examine the influence of active and passive pain-coping st rategies and social support characteristics on the change in functiona l status in the first stage: of the disease tn rheumatoid arthritis pa tients,, self-report data and clinical and laboratory measures were co llected from 91-patients (70% female, mean age 57 yr) shortly after di agnosis and 1 yr later. Multiple regression;analyses indicated that, a fter taking the influence of demographic variables, disease activity a nd pain,into account, a decrease in functional status (mobility, self- care, grip strength) after 1 yr could be predicted by an initially mor e;frequent use of the passive pain-coping strategies of worrying and-r esting. A decrease in mobility could be additionally predicted by an i nitially smaller social network. Results indicate the impact of passiv e pain-coping strategies and social network characteristics for the pr ognosis of functional outcome in the first stage of the disease and su ggest the early;manifestation of avoidance mechanisms; including behav ioral, cognitive-emotional and social components, in face of a chronic stressor. (C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.