Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Pain Management Nursing, cilt.23, ss.43-47, 2022 (SCI-Expanded)
© 2021Background: Aim: The aim of this study is to determine the symptoms, pain, and function changes experienced by rheumatoid arthritis patients during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: This descriptive study was completed with a total of 119 patients from the rheumatology clinic of a university hospital who met the follow-up research criteria and agreed to participate in the study. Descriptive features question form, pandemic period disease characteristics form, and Visual Analogue Scale were used to collect data. Results: The mean age of the patients was 48.53 ± 10.24, the duration of the disease was 69.63 ± 37.02 months, the average visual analog scale values before the pandemic period were 3.77 ± 1.40, while the average visual analog scale values during the pandemic period were 5.02 ± 1.57. The most common patient complaints were hygiene problems (p <.001), dressing problems (p <.001), and nutritional problems (p <.001) due to increased pain during the pandemic period. It was determined that the patients needed a health care professional for self-care (p <.001), injections (p <.001), and pain management (p <.001) during the pandemic period. Conclusions: During the pandemic period, patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) stated that they needed the support of a health care professional for self-care, injections, and pain management.