TY - JOUR
T1 - Living with arthritis: a “training camp” for coping with stressful events? A survey on resilience of arthritis patients following the COVID-19 pandemic
AU - Ciaffi, Jacopo
AU - Brusi, Veronica
AU - Lisi, Lucia
AU - Mancarella, Luana
AU - D'Onghia, Martina
AU - Quaranta, Elisabetta
AU - Landini, Maria Paola
AU - Meliconi, Riccardo
AU - Ursini, Francesco
PY - 2020/11
Y1 - 2020/11
N2 - Resilience is defined as “the capacity of individuals to cope successfully with significant change or adversity”. The challenge
posed by the COVID-19 pandemic may potentially represent an overwhelmingly stressful event for patients with chronic
diseases. Aim of our study was to investigate the levels of resilience in individuals with inflammatory arthritis living in Emilia
Romagna, the third hardest-hit Italian region during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To this purpose, we developed a survey
consisting of four different sections assessing demographic characteristics, the 14-item resilience scale (RS14) and questionnaires
evaluating depression and anxiety. Consecutive patients with inflammatory arthritis were recruited over a short time frame
immediately after the end of national lockdown and compared with control individuals from the general population. One hundred
twenty-two patients and 173 controls were included. Levels of resilience, as measured by RS14 score, were significantly higher in
patients with inflammatory arthritis (82.6 ± 14.0 vs 79.0 ± 12.8, p = 0.018). After stratification for gender, the difference in RS14
score was maintained in women (p = 0.045), but not in men (p = 0.252). High resilience, defined as having a RS14 score > 90,
was significantly more prevalent in patients than in controls (30% vs 16%, p = 0.009). In arthritis patients, no significant
differences in RS14 were observed after stratification for specific diagnosis, age, or disease duration and activity. Our findings
suggest that patients with inflammatory arthritis may be more resilient than the general population towards unexpected stressful
events such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
AB - Resilience is defined as “the capacity of individuals to cope successfully with significant change or adversity”. The challenge
posed by the COVID-19 pandemic may potentially represent an overwhelmingly stressful event for patients with chronic
diseases. Aim of our study was to investigate the levels of resilience in individuals with inflammatory arthritis living in Emilia
Romagna, the third hardest-hit Italian region during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To this purpose, we developed a survey
consisting of four different sections assessing demographic characteristics, the 14-item resilience scale (RS14) and questionnaires
evaluating depression and anxiety. Consecutive patients with inflammatory arthritis were recruited over a short time frame
immediately after the end of national lockdown and compared with control individuals from the general population. One hundred
twenty-two patients and 173 controls were included. Levels of resilience, as measured by RS14 score, were significantly higher in
patients with inflammatory arthritis (82.6 ± 14.0 vs 79.0 ± 12.8, p = 0.018). After stratification for gender, the difference in RS14
score was maintained in women (p = 0.045), but not in men (p = 0.252). High resilience, defined as having a RS14 score > 90,
was significantly more prevalent in patients than in controls (30% vs 16%, p = 0.009). In arthritis patients, no significant
differences in RS14 were observed after stratification for specific diagnosis, age, or disease duration and activity. Our findings
suggest that patients with inflammatory arthritis may be more resilient than the general population towards unexpected stressful
events such as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
KW - Anxiety
KW - Arthritis
KW - COVID-19
KW - Depression
KW - Resilience
U2 - 10.1007/s10067-020-05411-x
DO - 10.1007/s10067-020-05411-x
M3 - Article
VL - 39
SP - 3163
EP - 3170
JO - Clinical Rheumatology
JF - Clinical Rheumatology
SN - 0770-3198
IS - 11
ER -